BX 



IWSWYBEiSlQIllAeipBl 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 

No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
tion has been found. 

Forwarded to Order Division .^^^jJA°l_. 

(Date) 





BISHOP W. M. WEEKLEY, D.D. 



I wenty Years on Horseback 

or 

Itinerating in West Virginia 



By W. M. WEEKLEY, D.D. 

Author of "Getting and Giving," 
" From Life to Life," Etc. 



" Take thy part in suffering hardship as a good 
soldier of Christ Jesus." — 2 Tim. 2:3 



Nineteen Hundred and Seven 
United Brethren Publishing House 
Dayton, Ohio 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Receives 
JAN 30 1908 

Oopyngm turn 

GLASS XXc. No. 
copy e. 



3/^7 ?f 7 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



r 08 



Preface 



TT WAS not my purpose, in the preparation of 
this little volume, to make it an autobiogra- 
phy, but rather a narration of incidents connected 
with the twenty years of humble service which I 
tried to render the United Brethren Church among 
the mountains of West Virginia. 

These incidents present an all-round view, in 
outline, of the real life and labors of the itinerant 
preacher, a third of a century ago, in an isolated 
section, where the most simple and primitive cus- 
toms prevailed. 

While some of the things related will doubt- 
less amuse the reader, others, I trust, will lead to 
thoughtful reflection, and carry with them lessons 
inspiring and helpful. The introduction should first 
be carefully read by those who expect to be profited 
by a perusal of the pages which follow. That 
good may come to the church, and glory to our 
Redeemer through this unpretentious publication is 
the prayer of its 

Author, 

Kansas City, Mo., May 1, 1907. 



T HAVE examined the manuscript of " Twenty 
Years on Horseback, or Itinerating in West 
Virginia," and cheerfully submit this note of com- 
mendation. 

The author, Bishop W. M. Weekley, D.D., I 
have known for more than thirty years. He entered 
the ministry when young, with an undivided heart 
and determined purpose. During the years he 
served the Church in that State he traveled over 
almost the entire territory of the West Virginia 
Conference. The country then was extremely 
primitive; but simple as the mode of life was at that 
time, the field was an interesting, even an enjoy- 
able one for a minister who could endure hardness 
as a good soldier of Christ. I am acquainted with 
nearly all the sections of the State referred to, and 
am therefore familiar with many of the places, 
facts, and persons mentioned, and can assure the 
reader that the author has given a faithful account 
of these in his book. No statement is overdrawn 
or warped for the sake of effect. 

W. W. Rymer. 

Columbus, Ohio, May 3, 1907. 



N examination of the following pages caused 



me to live my early life over again. Hav- 
ing spent twenty-three years in the ministry within 
the bounds of the West Virginia Conference, and 
having been intimately associated with the author 
of this volume during the most of that period, I 
am very familiar with many of the places, persons, 
and events mentioned, and can testify to the cor- 
rectness of the record he makes, and to the faith- 
fulness of the pictures drawn. This book will stir 
the thoughts and rekindle the fire within the old 
itinerants, and, as well, 1 trust, arouse the young to 
larger activities in soul winning. 




R. A. Hitt. 



Chillicothe, Ohio, May 4, 1907. 



HE AUTHOR of this book and myself were 



x boys together. We were born and reared 
within four miles of each other, were converted in 
the same church, and for years were members of 
the same Sunday school and congregation. We 
were licensed to preach on the same charge, and 
spent the earlier years of our ministry in the same 
conference together. In many instances we traveled 
the same roads, preached in the same communities, 
and mingled with the same people. 

After having examined the contents of this 
volume in manuscript form, I am sure it contains a 
faithful description of the varied conditions which 
made up the life and experiences of the United 
Brethren itinerant minister of that time among the 
hills and mountains of West Virginia. 




A. Orr. 



Circleviile, Ohio, April 30, 1907. 



Contents 



Preface 




Introduction - • 


9 


Chapter I - 


15 


Chapter II 


27 


Chapter III 


44 


Chapter IV 


58 


Chapter V ... 


70 


Chapter VI 


86 


Chapter VII 


100 


Chapter VII I 


121 



3ilustratfon0 

Bishop W. M. Weekley {Frontispiece 
W. M. Weekley at Twenty Years of Age 
W. M. Weekley at Thirty Years of Age 
Traveling a District^ 

House Where Bishop First Went to Housekeeping 



SntroDuctfon 



The past lives through the printed page. The 
ages would be blank if books were not made record- 
ing the events and achievements of men. No form 
of history is more interesting and profitable than 
that which recites the career of those who, obedi- 
ent to their divine commission, proclaimed to 
fellowmen the sweet message of Christ's redeem- 
ing love. The completeness of their consecration, 
their undaunted courage and persistency in the 
face of many difficulties, and their marvelous suc- 
cess evidence in them the presence of superhuman 
power. It is the genius of Christianity to inspire 
and develop the unselfish and heroic in men. The 
splendid specimens of self-sacrifice and moral cour- 
age, which adorn the pages of Christian literature, 
charm the reader and inspire him to more Christ- 
like endeavor. These life-stories constitute a rich, 
priceless legacy for present and future generations. 

In this admirable volume, Bishop Weekley has 
modestly removed the curtain from twenty years of 
his own strenuous ministerial life spent in the 
mountains and valleys of West Virginia, and given 
the reader a conception of what it meant to lift 
up the Christ and extend his kingdom in that 
rugged region. The book is biographical in char- 
acter, but since "biography is the soul of history," 
it is history in reality. The scenes and events 
which he presents suggest the character of the 
work which others had to do in laying the founda- 
tions of our Church in those sections. 



0 



It would be difficult to find more striking 
examples of Christian altruism and heroism any- 
where in this country than the godly men who 
preached the gospel among the mountains and in 
the valleys of the Virginias in the early years of 
our denominational history. These men embodied 
those elements of character and graces of the Spirit 
which are essential to success in Christian work 
anywhere. Having heard the call of God, and hav- 
ing felt the spell of the divine spirit, they yielded 
themselves unreservedly to the gospel ministry. 
They possessed strength of conviction, singleness 
of aim, earnestness of purpose, and concentration 
of effort. As a rule these pioneer preachers had 
but one business — that of the King. They were 
so absorbed in the saving of men and women, and 
in extending the kingdom, that they gave but little 
attention to present physical comforts and future 
needs. Many of them were without property, and 
when they sang, 

"No foot of land do I possess, 
No cottage in this wilderness," 

there was a literalness about it which would have 
dismayed men of less faith and consecration. With- 
out seeking to enrich themselves in material things 
they labored earnestly to bring the spiritual riches 
of heaven to the hearts and homes of others. 

They were busy men — men of action. They 
omitted no opportunities to do good. Intervals of 
rest were few and far between. The modern min- 
ister's vacation was to them unknown. They met 
their "appointments" with surprising regularity. 
Neither storm, nor distance, nor weariness thwart- 
ed their plans. Their announcements were always 
made conditionally — "no preventing providence" — 
but they never calculated for providence to pre- 
vent them being on hand at the appointed place 
and hour. The strain of toil was constant, but 
their iron resolution, and the work itself, proved 



10 



a strong tonic. The success of one service was 
inspiration for the next. Visiting from house to 
house, exhorting the people to faithful Christian 
living, distributing religious literature, and preach- 
ing week days as well as Sundays made their lives 
full of heavy tasks, all of which were performed 
with happy hearts. They possessed the glowing 
and tireless zeal of the preaching friars of the 
Middle Ages, and with many of them the clear 
flame of their zeal was undimmed until the fire 
was turned to ashes. 

They were men of thought as well as action. 
Their preparation was made in the college of 
experience, in which they proved themselves apt 
students. They studied few books and only the 
best. They cultivated and practised the perilous 
art of reading on horseback. They pored over 
books and papers in humble homes by flickering 
candle or pine-knot light long after the family 
had retired. It is remarkable what extended 
knowledge of the English Scriptures, methods of 
sermonizing, oratorical style and forceful delivery 
these men acquired. They knew well, and by 
that surest form of knowledge — the knowledge 
born of verified experience — all they proclaimed 
in message to the people. There was freshness 
of thought, aptness of illustration, and forcefulness 
of expression that was native to them. The 
majestic forms of nature in the regions where they 
toiled inspired in them the sublimest thoughts of 
God and his eternal truth. The marvelous results 
of the sermons of such men as Markwood, Gloss- 
brenner, Bachtel, "Warner, Nelson, Graham, Howe, 
Hott, and others proved them great preachers in 
the highest and truest sense. 

They were men of tact as well as thought, and 
adjusted themselves to the conditions. They 
preached wherever the people would assemble — in 
leafy grove, by the river bank, in the humble 



11 



• home, in the log schoolhouse, in the village hall, 
in the vacant storeroom, and in the unpretentious 
church-house. They did not always have the exhil- 
erating and inspirational effect of great crowds, but 
they preached "in demonstration of the Spirit," 
kindling the deepest emotions in their hearers, 
often arousing them to tremendous intensity and 
causing waves of overpowering feeling to sweep 
over them. Saints shouted the praises of God 
and penitents pleaded for mercy. These heralds 
of the C r oss employed none of the familiar devices 
of modern times for securing crowds and reaching 
results. There were no specially-prepared and 
widely-scattered handbills, no local advertising 
committees, no daily newspapers with flashing 
headlines and portraits, no great choral or orches- 
tral attractions. What made these fallible men 
so forceful and successful in winning others? The 
explanation lies in the fact of their spiritual endue- 
ment. They wrought in the name of Christ and 
under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

In no portion of our Zion have ministers made 
stronger and more lasting impression upon the peo- 
ple. Whenever present in a home they were the 
guests of honor. Their strong personalities and 
noble traits of character, as well as their calling 
itself, won for them the esteem of old and young. 
Parents named their children after them, and 
exhorted their sons to find in them their models 
for manhood. In thus honoring these noblemen of 
God they exalted the work of the ministry in the 
minds of the young, and prepared the way for 
the Lord to call them into his service. This may 
account, at least in part, for the great number who 
have gone into the ministry from these mountain 
districts. 

Let no one fancy that somber shadows rested 
continually upon the pathway of these ministers. 
There was a joyous side to their ministerial life. 
When together as a class, or among their parish- 



12 



ioners, their stories and jokes were abundant, 
spontaneous, and of the purest type. When they 
met at institutes, camp-meetings, and conferences 
they enjoyed one round of good cheer and solid 
comfort. Their services of song drowned all dull 
cares. Their lives had shadows, but they refreshed 
themselves in the rifts and glorious sunbursts. 

The people to whom these men of God pro- 
claimed the gospel were not, as a rule, rich in 
material things, but they possessed great hearts, in 
which love and kindness flowed as pure and 
refreshing as the streams of water that rippled 
down the mountain side. 

We rejoice that Bishop Weekley has given to the 
Church this book. Many aged ministers, who once 
toiled in the Virginias, will live over again the 
scenes of their lives as they read these pages. 
Young men will be stimulated to more earnest 
endeavor as they learn of the hardships and com- 
plete consecration of God's servants in pioneer 
days. No one will weary in reading this excellent 
volume. The good Bishop has written in harmony 
with an established sentiment in book-making — 
"it is the chief of all perfections in books to be 
plain and brief." W. O. Fries. 

Dayton, Ohio. 



13 



CHAPTEK I. 



The Virginias have turned out more United 
Brethren preachers, perhaps, than any other 
section of the same size between the oceans. 
These pulpiteers have ranged in the scale of 
ability and efficiency from A to Z. Some 
achieved distinction in one way and another; 
others, though faithful and useful, were little 
known beyond their conference borders. Nor 
have all remained among the mountains. Doz- 
ens and scores of them have gone out into other 
parts of the Church. At this writing they are 
to be found in no less than nineteen different 
conferences, and, as a class, they are not ex- 
celled by any in devotion to the Church, in un- 
remitting toil, and in spiritual fervor and down- 
right enthusiasm. Some — many who spent 
their lives in building up the Zion of their 
choice among the Virginia hills, have gone to 
glory. Among these heroes I may mention J. 
Markwood, J. J. Glossbrenner, Z. Warner. J. 
Bachtel, J. W. Perry, J. W. Howe, S. J. 
Graham, I. K. Station, and J. W. Hott. Other 
names, perhaps not so illustrious, but just as 
worthy, are to be found in God's unerring 
record. The historian will never tell all about 



15 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

them. Their labors, sacrifices, and sufferings 
will never be portrayed by any human tongue, 
no matter how eloquent, or by any pen, how- 
ever versatile and fruitful it may be. Footsore 
and weary, dust covered and battle scarred, they 
reached the end of their pilgrimage and heard 
heaven's "well done." What a blessed legacy 
they bequeathed to their sons and daughters in 
the gospel ! 

"Old Virginia" was, in part, the field chosen 
by Otterbein himself, and by his devout co- 
laborers. This was more than a hundred years 
ago. In 1858 the Parkersburg, now West Vir- 
ginia Conference, was organized out of that 
part of the mother conference lying west of 
the Alleghanies; — a territory three hundred 
miles long, roughly speaking, by two hundred 
in width. In its physical aspects the country 
is exceedingly rough, and difficult of travel. 
But the people, though mostly rural in their 
customs and mode of living, and many of 
them poor, so far as this world's goods are con- 
cerned, are warm hearted, genial, and hospit- 
able. When a preacher goes to fill an appoint- 
ment among "mountaineers," he is not troubled 
with the thought that perhaps nobody will offer 
him lodging, or willingly share with him the 
bounties of his table. I have found things 
different in other parts of the country. 



16 



W. M. WEEKLE.Y, Twenty Years of Age 
Traveling Circuit 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

church partisans saw the outlook, they offered 
to take part in the school, and adroitly got pos- 
session of the offices. When I discovered the 
real situation, I determined to bring the matter 
of control to an issue, and did. I deliberately 
stated that I had been sent there to organize a 
United Brethren Church and Sabbath school, 
and proposed to carry out my instructions. I 
was pleased to have teachers and other helpers 
from sister denominations join in the work, I 
added, but the school would be reported to my 
conference. The result is easily imagined. Our 
friends, so-called, suddenly dropped out, and 
from that day to this the identity of the school 
has never been questioned. 

The seventy-five dollars appropriated by the 
conference was about all I received, and twenty- 
five dollars of that went in a lump to the cen- 
tennial fund. If a kind family had not taken 
me in, free of cost, I could not have remained 
the year through. For the second year the sup- 
port given wns about the same. The third year 
there were two of us to support, hence a special 
effort had to be made to increase the pay. Three 
hundred and twelve dollars was the amount ac- 
tually received, eighty dollars of which was paid 
on rent ; but we lived well ; no such thing as 
want seemed to be within a thousand leagues of 
our humble home. We were thankful for cheap 
49 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

furniture and home-made carpet. Yea, more, 
we were happy. God's ravens carried us our 
daily portion. 

In the early spring of 1875, we began the 
erection of a chapel which cost, lot and all, 
$2,800. But a part of it had to be built the 
second time. Just as the frame was up and 
ready for roof and siding, a storm passing that 
way piled it in a promiscuous heap. This oc- 
curred on the seventeenth of July. Immedi- 
ately, however, the work of reconstruction was 
undertaken, and the edifice was completed in 
early fall, and dedicated by Doctor Warner. 
Such experiences try a young man's nerve and 
purpose, but invariably prove a blessing when 
the difficulties accompanying them are over- 
come. 

That year I took up an appointment at the 
Poe School-house, two miles out of town, and 
organized a class. In those days the preacher 
was expected to look around for new openings, 
no matter where he was or how large his field ; 
there is no other way to expand. My criticism 
of many of our young preachers to-day is that 
they do not try to enlarge their work. They 
seem never to look beyond the nest into which 
the conference settles them. They will live on 
half salary, and whine about it all year, rather 
than get out and look up additional territory. 

50 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

Under fair conditions, the young man who is 
devout and active can secure a good living on 
any field. Faith and purpose and push will 
win every time. The year closed with fifty- 
three members, and ninty-five in the Sunday 
school. 

The conference again convened in Parkers- 
burg, with David Edwards this time as bishop 
— the last session he ever presided over. 

At this period the battle in the Church over 
the secrecy question was waxing warm. West 
Virginia had lined up on the liberal side. The 
bishop, being pronouncedly "anti" in his, views, 
determined to enforce the rules of the Church 
in the matter of admitting applicants into the 
conference. A brother who appeared for li- 
cense was known to belong to some fraternal 
order, so the good bishop held him up. This 
brought on a crisis. All was excitement. Some 
things, it was clear, would have to be settled 
then and there, and they were. Doctor Warner 
arose, in the midst of the flurry, and demanded 
that the young brother be sent to the appropri- 
ate committee, which he said was thorough! v 
competent to deal with the question. The 
bishop was on his feet also with the fire of 
determination fairly flashing in his eyes. How- 
ever, when he fully realized that, with an excep- 
tion or two, the entire body was against him., 

51 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

he gracefully yielded, thus happily bringing the 
unfortunate conflict to a close. By morning, 
matters had again assumed a normal condition, 
and the bishop kindly requested that all ref- 
erence to the controversy be expunged from the 
records. 

Notwithstanding Bishop Edwards' somewhat 
radical position on the secrecy question, he was 
greatly loved by all our brethren, and by none 
was his death more sincerely mourned. On 
Sunday he preached on Elijah's translation; a 
few days thereafter he was himself translated. 

From Grafton I was sent to New Haven cir- 
cuit, in Mason County, one hundred and sixty 
miles west. To get there I was compelled to 
borrow twenty-five dollars. Dr. J. L. Hensley 
kindly entertained us until a house could be 
found ; for as yet there was not a parsonage in 
the conference. This was considered one of the 
best fields we had. The first year it paid me 
four hundred and sixteen dollars, and the next, 
four hundred and twenty-seven dollars, with a 
few presents in the shape of vegetables, gro- 
ceries, and the like. Of course, I paid rent out 
of this — thirty-six dollars one year, and fifty 
the other. I had only four appointments — New 
Haven, Bachtel, Union, and Vernon, and these 
were close together. During the two years, one 
52 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

hundred and thirty were received into the 
Church. 

The next conference was held at BachteL 
which gave me my first experience in caring 
for such a body. Bishop Weaver presided and 
preached the word mightily on Sunday. He had 
been popular even since his first visit to that 
section, in 1870. By request of Hon. George 
W. Murdoek, a wealthy business man in Hart- 
ford City, three miles west, he went down there 
and preached in our church on Sunday evening. 
Mr. Murdoek was an ardent admirer of the 
bishop. Six years before he had entertained 
him in his home, and was charmed by him 
as a preacher and conversationalist After 
spending the first hour with him, he slipped 
into the kitchen and said : "Wife, he is the most 
wonderful man I ever met. Do come in and 
hear him talk." The old gentleman never for- 
got the bishop's sermon on Sunday. For weeks 
afterward he would talk about it in his store, 
and elsewhere, sometimes in tears, nearly al- 
ways ending with the observation, "He is a 
wonderful man." It might not be out of place 
to note here that the good bishop more than once 
shared the benefactions of his wealthy friend. 

During my second year on this charge, a 
peculiar and most trying experience came to 
our home. A great revival was going on at 

53 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

the Union appointment. The altar was nightly 
crowded with earnest seekers, some of whom 
belonged to the best families in the community. 
Early one morning a young man came hurriedly 
to the place where I was stopping, and calling 
me out, said, "Mr. Weekley, I have been sent 
to tell you that your babe is dead." Hastening 
home I found the faithful mother watching at 
the side of the withered flower, and anxiously 
awaiting my coming. How loving the minis try 
of friends had been ; nor did their tender inter- 
est abate a whit until the little lifeless form was 
put away to sleep in the cemetery on the hill- 
side, in the family lot of Dr. Hensley. 

The reader may be anxious to know what I 
did under the circumstances. There was but one 
thing to do, that was to seek the guiding hand 
of duty. Our little one was gone. Just as the 
thoughtful florist takes his tender plants into 
their winter quarters before the frost appears, 
or the chilling winds sweep the plains, so a wise, 
loving, merciful Father had plucked up the 
little vine which had rooted itself so thoroughly 
and deeply in our hearts, and transplanted it 
in his own heavenly garden. Yes, Charley was 
safe ; so I returned to my meeting with a tender 
spirit, and the work continued with great 
power. 

54 



Itinerating in West Virginia 



More than one preacher who reads this inci- 
dent will recall the time, or times, when he, too, 
passed under the clond, and walked amid the 
shadows. Again and again I have been made to 
feel that some people do not sympathize with 
the minister and his wife, as they do with oth- 
ers, when the death angel tarries and lays his 
withering hand upon a young life. Somehow 
they seem to think that the cup, when admin- 
istered to the preacher's family, is not so bitter 
— that the thorn does not pierce so deeply. But 
I know better, and so do a thousand others. It 
is said of Dr. Daniel Curry, a great man in 
Methodism in his day, that he was so grieved 
over the death of his little boy that after return- 
ing home from the cemetery he went into the 
back yard, and observing his little tracks in the 
sand, got down on his hands and knees and 
kissed them. Words cannot express my sym- 
pathy for the faithful pastor and his family, 
and my admiration of that faith, devotion, and 
heroism which in so many instances are neces- 
sary to keep them in the work. 

Mason County was one of the first fields oc- 
cupied by the ministers who crossed the Alle- 
ghanies westward. Among these were G. W. 
Statton, J. Bachtel, and Moses Michael. How- 
ever, prior to this, preaching had been kept up 
on the Virginia side by pastors of the Scioto 



55 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

Conference. The main one was Jonas Frown- 
felt er ? whose name deserves a place alongside 
the heroes enumerated in the eleventh chapter 
of Hebrews. On one occasion, when the Ohio 
River was out of its banks, and too dangerous 
for the ferryman to venture across, he plunged 
in a little below the town of Syracuse, swam his 
horse across, and came out at Hartford City, a 
half mile below, singing like a conqueror : 

"From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 
There is a calm, a sure retreat," etc. 

All honor to those who put their sweat, and 
tears, and blood into the foundations of the con- 
ference, thus enabling others to build safely and 
successfully. 

Early in the fifties a paper known as the 
Virginia Telescope, was started in West Colum- 
bia, ostensibly in the interest of the whole 
Church, but later developments proved that the 
object was to organize a Southern United Breth- 
ren Church, making the slavery question the 
basis of the separation. When the presiding 
elder, G. W. Statton, became aware of its pur- 
pose, he threw his official influence against its 
continuance, and succeeded, by the aid of others, 
in eliminating it as a disturbing factor. 

The reader will pardon me for taking up 
these early historical threads, woven long before 

56 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

my day as an itinerant, but I have done so with 
the view to preserving in permanent form inter- 
esting facts not generally known, and nowhere 
written into the history of the Church. 



57 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



CHAP-TEE IV. 

Ik March of 1878, the conference assembled 
in Grafton, with Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner as 
its presiding officer. At this session the brethren 
greatly surprised me by electing me one of the 
presiding elders. No thought of such a thing 
had ever entered my mind. I could not see the 
propriety of putting a young man, not yet 
twenty-seven, over men of age, ability, and expe- 
rience, hence it was with no little diffidence that 
I accepted the West Columbia District, in the 
bounds of which I had already worked two 
years. The district contained only eleven 
charges, but these were widely scattered, em- 
bracing all or parts of Cabell, Mason, Jackson, 
Wood, Putnam, Kanawha, and Roane counties, 
and were as follows: Milton, Point Pleasant, 
Cross Creek, Thirteen, Jackson, Red House, 
Fair Plain, Sandy, ISTew Haven, Wood, and 
Hartford City. Later, Walton was added. 

The salary assessed the district was $425 ; out 
of this I had to pay traveling expenses, provide 
a house to live in, and pay a hired girl. Under 
such conditions I could afford a house of only 



53 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

three rooms. I never believed in a preacher, or 
any one else, for that matter, living beyond his 
income. Debt is an awful devil for the itinerant 
to contend with, and should be avoided at all 
hazard. In all the years of my ministry I have 
never left a pastoral charge or district owing 
any one thereon a nickel. If a man is fit to be a 
preacher, debt will distract his mind and put a 
thorn in his pillow; it cannot be otherwise with 
a sensitive nature. God save our young men 
from the habit and curse of debt-making. 

~No little of my travel, while on the district, 
was by boat on the Ohio and Big Kanawha 
rivers. Only one of my fields was touched by a 
railroad, and that was sixty miles from where I 
lived. My custom was to go by boat to the point 
nearest the place of the quarterly meeting, and 
then walk the remaining distance, whether it be 
five or twenty-five miles. Often I might have 
secured conveyance for the asking, but I felt 
that it was humiliating to be always annoying 
somebody for favors, nor have I changed an iota 
in all these years in this regard. If a preacher 
wants to make himself a nuisance among his 
parishioners, he can easily do so by constantly 
making demands upon them which look to his 
own comfort and that of his family. Many a 
time I walked from twelve to fifteen miles in a 
day, held quarterly conference, and preached 

59 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

twice. Occasionally the distance would stretch, 
out to twenty miles. I did not mind the labor 
so much as I did the suffering from sore feet; 
walking in the hot sun or over frozen roads, 
hour after hour, often caused them to blister and 
bleed. In these experiences I was not alone; 
many others, some of whom yet live, suffered 
the same or kindred hardships. 

In February of 1879 I was called home to my 
father's. After a day or two I tried to return, 
but upon reaching Parkersburg found the river 
so frozen and clogged with ice that the boats 
could not run. It was Thursday afternoon. My 
quarterly was at Oakhill, fully forty miles dis- 
tant, the next Saturday at two o'clock. The 
roads were badly frozen and almost impassable. 
When I saw the situation I determined to make 
the trip overland as best I could; if I could 
not find assistance along the way, I would walk 
it. Leaving the city at four o'clock, I traveled 
on till darkness overtook me, when I turned 
aside and knocked at the door of a humble cabin 
and asked for lodging, which was cheerfully 
granted ; but I had made only a few miles. In 
addition to the rough roads, I was burdened 
with a good-sized grip and overcoat. The next 
morning at day dawn I resumed my journey. 
Once during the day I rode two or three miles 
in somebody's sled, but beyond this I got no 



60 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

help. Long after the dinner hour I secured a 
cold lunch, which the reader may be assured 
was relished by a tired, hungry man. An hour 
before sundown I reached Sandyville, where a 
warm supper was enjoyed at a little hotel. Still 
I was fifteen miles away from the point for 
which I was aiming, and felt that I could go no 
farther without help; but a kind friend gen- 
erously agreed to loan me his horse to ride as 
far as Ripley, seat of justice for Jackson 
County, from which place the mail-carrier was 
to lead it back the next day ; but the poor animal 
was shoeless, and went crippling along at a 
snail's gait over the rough ground. 

Two miles distant I had to cross Sandy 
Creek, and found it partly frozen over. It was 
too dark to discern the danger of fording the 
stream. After repeated efforts, I succeeded in 
getting the horse on to the ice, but as quick as a 
flash it fell broadside, pitching me — I never 
knew where nor just how far ; but the horse beat 
me up, turned its head homeward, and disap- 
peared in the darkness. What did I do % Well, 
what almost anybody else would have done 
under like circumstances. I took the back track 
and returned to the village where the animal 
belonged, and found that it had returned in 
good order. The next morning my feet were so 
sore that I could not wear my shoes ; but was 



Gl 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

fortunate in securing a pair of arctics in which 
to travel the rest of the journey. By noon Kip- 
ley was reached, where conveyance was secured 
which enabled me to make the place of meeting 
and call the conference on schedule time. 

Some one may suggest that I was foolish for 
making such an effort to reach the quarterly 
when nothing apparently unusal was at stake; 
maybe I was, but such was my way of doing. I 
always believed that a preacher ought to fill his 
engagements promptly unless providentially 
hindered, and then he: ought to be fair enough 
not to blame providence with too much ; but few 
days are ever too cold and stormy, or nights too 
dark to keep a man from his appointments if he 
is anxious to preach the word and minister to 
his people." I here record the fact, with feelings 
of satisfaction and pride, that in more than a 
third of a century I have not disappointed a 
dozen congregations. As I see it, a preacher 
succeeds in his work just as business or other 
professional men succeed in their respective 
callings. He must bestir himself, and permit no 
obstacle to get between him and duty; any 
other policy means failure. At it everywhere 
and all the time, and keeping everybody else at 
work, are the only ways to win for the Church 
and maintain a good conscience before God. 

62 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

Conference met in Hartford City. The chart 
showed that a good year had been enjoyed, 1,354 
new members being reported. Of this number, 
535 were credited to West Columbia District. 

The second year on the district was like unto 
the first — full of toil, responsibility, and peril 
betimes. 

As an indication of what was required of a 
presiding elder in order to aid his pastors and 
keep the work of the district well in hand, I re- 
late the following experience: A rainy winter 
morning found me on Milton Circuit — the last 
charge in the southwestern part of the confer- 
ence. I had an appointment that evening at 
Cross Creek, thirty-five miles east. The mud in 
some places was knee deep to my horse, but on 
and on I traveled, over hills and along meander- 
ing streams, sometimes walking myself up and 
down steep places in order to relieve my weary 
horse. At last, when it was nearly dark, I halted 
on the bank of the great Kanawha, opposite 
the town of Buffalo. But how was I to get across 
the threatening stream? The ice lay piled in 
great heaps on either shore; the man who 
tended the ferry hesitated to come after me 
when I called to him, but he was given to 
understand that in some way I must be gotten 
over. Finally he agreed to make the attempt, 
and after hard rowing, landed me on the oppo- 



63 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

site side but below the regular coming-out place, 
and where the ice was badly gorged. Then the 
real difficulty of the venture was apparent. We 
had to> get the horse up over the great blocks of 
ice that lay at the water's edge, and it was to 
two of us an exciting time ; no one can describe 
it on paper. Holding on to the animal, pulling 
my best at the bridle-rein all the while, the ferry- 
man pushing with all his might, we finally 
scrambled over the ice and through narrow pas- 
sageways until a place of safety was reached. 
How thankful I felt when it was all over, and 
how I loved that horse! Doctor Warner used 
to tell how his faithful horse once swam an 
angry stream, and that after the shore had been 
reached in safety he dismounted, put his arms 
around the neck of his deliverer, kissed his lips, 
and wept for joy. Itinerating in the early days 
of the West Virginia Conference meant all this, 
and sometimes much more. 

When I got to the church, two miles farther 
on, I found the congregation waiting and ready 
to join in the service. It might be stated, in this 
connection, that in those days the coming of the 
"elder" was an extraordinary event, and seldom 
failed to bring out the entire community. 

The following evening I had an engagement 
to preach at Mount Moriah, still farther east 
some thirty miles. It rained the day through. 

64 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

to wear, so I bantered him for a trade. It was 
in first-class condition, but entirely too large 
for me. Even after putting a roll of paper 
around under the lining, it came down nearly to 
my ears. What was I to do ? I must have a 
high-topped hat, but was not able to purchase a 
new one. At last I decided to wear it, if my 
ears did occasionally protest against its close 
proximity to them. It distinguished me from 
common people for the next two years, and so 
answered well its purpose. 

One day as I was riding up a little creek be- 
tween two high hills I passed a group of urchins 
who evidently were unused to preachers. They 
watched me in utter silence till I had passed 
them a few yards, when one of them piped out, 
"Lord, what a hat." No doubt they had an in- 
teresting story to relate to their parents when 
they returned to their humble cabin home. 

Not long after this I met a gentleman, so- 
called, in the road, and bade him the time of 
day, as was my custom. He returned the salu- 
tation with, "How are you, hat?" and passed 
on without another word. To me this was ex- 
ceedingly offensive, for I was sure there was 
something in and under the hat, and any such 
remark was an uncalled-for reflection upon my 
dignity and the high calling I represented. I 
did not know the man, and to the best of my 

33 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

knowledge have never seen him since, but to 
this day, though removed from the event more 
than a third of a century, I harbor the thought 
that if I ever do run across him I shall demand 
some sort of reparation for the insult. 

The annual conference met in Pennsboro, 
Bishop Weaver presiding. During the year I 
had improved much in health, owing to my 
horseback exercise and the great amount of 
singing I did, which doubtless had much to do 
with the development of lung muscle. 

At conference I went before the committee 
on applicants with eight others, five of whom 
'were referred back to their respective quarterly 
conferences for further preparation. For some 
reason the examination was unusually critical. 
One question propounded to each was, "Do you 
seek admission into the conference simply to 
vote for a presiding elder V- There was some 
doubt in my case on a doctrinal point, accord- 
ing to the report of the chairman, Rev. W. 
Slaughter, an erratic old brother. He said the 
boy was all right, except "a little foggy on de- 
pravity." Possibly I was, for I didn't think 
much of that portion of our creed. However, 
I see more in it, and of it, after all these years, 
than I did then. In the light of my observa- 
tions and experiences with men, I am not in- 
clined to deny the doctrine. 

34 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

I was appointed by this conference to Lewis 
Circuit, an old, run down field, embracing parts 
of three counties. Eev. Isaac Davis was sent 
along as a helper "in the Lord." We had grown 
up together in the same neighborhood, and were 
members of the same congregation. He was a 
young man of sterling moral qualities, and 
proved himself a loyal and valuable coworker. 

After spending a few days with our parents 
and friends, we started, early in April, for the 
scene of toil to which we had been assigned for 
the year. From the day we left home we ceased 
not to pray that the Lord of the harvest would 
give us at least one hundred souls as trophies of 
his grace, and to that end we labored constantly. 

We found the following regular appoint- 
ments: Glady Fork, Hinkleville, Union Hill, 
Little Skin Creek, White Oak, Waterloo, Indian 
Camp, Walkersville, Braxton, and Centerville. 
Soon we added two more, namely, Bear Kun 
and Laurel Bun. The charge agreed to pay us 
$210, but fell a little short, reaching only $170. 
Of this I received $90, and Brother Davis the 
remaining $80. The assessment for missions 
was $25, and about $10 for other purposes, 
which we regarded as a pretty high tax for 
benevolences. Yet the entire amount was raised 
after a most vigorous and thorough canvass of 

35 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

all the appointments. As I now remember, no 
one gave more than twenty-five cents. 

Our protracted meetings lasted more than 
six months, and resulted in the reception of one 
hundred and one persons into church fellowship. 
While in the revival at Hinkleville, a great shout 
cccured one night over the conversion of some 
far-famed sinners, during which the floor of 
the church gave way and went down some two 
feet. Before dismissing the people, I announced 
that we would meet and make repairs the next 
day. At the appointed time it seemed that 
nearly all the men and boys in the country 
round about were on hand, ready to render what 
service they could in repairing the house of the 
Lord. 

This was a revival of far-reaching influence. 
The country for miles around was thoroughly 
stirred. One of the leading men became inter- 
ested one night, and decided upon a new life. 
As he approached the church the next day he 
heard us singing what was then a very popular 
song — "Will the Angels Gome?" The words 
and melody fairly charmed him, and kindled 
new hope in a life that had been given over to 
sin. As he opened the church door, the key of 
faith opened his heart's door to the Savior, and 
he rushed down the aisle to tell us of his wonder- 
ful experience. It was all victory that morning. 

36 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

The conversion of such a man profoundly 
affected the people, and led to many more de- 
cisions for Christ. 

During this meeting my colleague arose one 
evening to preach. As he had the text, with book, 
chapter, and verse all by heart, he did not open 
his Bible, but began by saying, "You will find 
my text in Revelation, third chapter, and twen- 
tieth verse." Just then an apple fell through a 
hole in his coat-pocket on to the floor. As he 
stooped to pick it up, another fell out. Bo 
turning them to his pocket, he again started — 
"Revelation, third chapter and twentieth verse," 
when suddenly the two restless apples dropped 
out again. After picking them up, he started 
in the third time, "You will find my text 
in," — but all was gone. He couldn't even 
think of Revelation. The audience was at 
the point of roaring, so in the midst of his con- 
fusion he turned to me and said, "Brother 
Weekley, what is my text ? I don't know what 
nor where it is." I answered, "Behold, I stand 
at the door and knock." "Yes, yes," he said, "I 
remember it now," and proceeded with his dis- 
course, but did not recover that evening from 
the knock-out blow he had received. 

Preaching through such a long revival cam- 
paign was no easy thing, when I had only a few 
sermons in stock, and these were all "hoio** 



37 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

made. 7 ' I think the material in them was all 
right, but the mechanical construction was not 
according to any particular rule. I endeavored 
to give mj hearers plenty to eat, but I did not 
understand how to serve the food in courses. It 
was like putting a lot of hominy, and pork, and 
cabbage, and beans into the same dish, and say- 
ing to the people, "Here it is ; help yourselves." 
But as a few sermons could not be made to last 
indefinitely, I was compelled to apply myself to 
study, no little of which was done on horse- 
back. Every itinerant in West Virginia at that 
time had to do the same thing. While this 
method of study was not the most desirable, it 
nevertheless had its redeeming features. Oft- 
times, after riding a dozen or fifteen miles over 
rough, hilly roads, I would alight, hitch my 
horse, and while the weary animal was resting, 
mount a log near by and practice to my heart's 
content the sermon I was preparing for my next 
appointment. Again and again did I make the 
welkin ring as I preached to an audience of 
great trees about me. Does this appear amusing 
to the reader ? Do you doubt that such expe- 
riences ever occurred ? If so, ask some of the 
earlier preachers of the conference who are yet 
living if they ever did such a thing while cir- 
cuit-riding among the mountains. 

38 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

Did we ever feel lonesome as we traversed the 
forests or climbed the hills % Not for a moment. 
It was an inspiring place to be. The birds sing 
so sweetly there. The gurgling, murmuring 
streamlets are ever musical as they steal their 
way along through gulches, over their rocky 
beds. The scenery is sublime. Nature's book 
stands wide open, and abounds with richest les- 
sons and illustrations. No wonder Glossbrenner 
and Markwood, Warner and Howe, with a host 
of others, could preach! The very mountains 
amid which they were born and reared con- 
spired to make them lofty characters, and 
majestic in their pulpit efforts. While Union 
Biblical Seminary, and our colleges generally, 
are grand, helpful schools, let it not be forgot- 
ten that "Brush College" is not without its ad- 
vantages, and should be given due credit for 
the inspiration and rugged manliness it imparts 
to its students. 

My home this year was with Brother James 
Hull, on the headwaters of French Creek, fully 
forty miles from the nearest railroad station. 
Mother Hull was one of God's noble women. 
She professed sanctification, and lived it every 
day. I can never forget her helpfulness to me, 
a mere child in years and service. I must see 
her in heaven. 



39 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

If I returned home after each Sabbath's 
work, it required one hundred and fifty miles 
travel to make one round of the circuit. My as- 
sociate also had a good home on another part of 
the charge; but unfortunately for him, and for 
some others as well, his zeal led him into 
trouble. Brother Mike Boyles, with whom he 
stayed, was a good, true man, and was ever de- 
lighted to have a preacher with him. One Sun- 
day he went to see a friend a few miles distant, 
and innocently carried home on his horse a 
large, nice, well-matured pumpkin. His pur- 
pose, no doubt, was to prepare a special dish 
for his guest ; but his preacher was not pleased 
with such an infraction of the Sabbath law. A 
short while after this he discoursed in the 
neighborhood church on the text, "I stand in 
doubt of you." Among other things, he said he 
stood in doubt of a church-member who> would 
go visiting on Sunday and carry "pumpkins" 
home with him. Brother Boyles very naturally 
made the application a personal one, and ever 
afterward refused to be reconciled. 

During the year I married two couples. One 
of the men was a horse buyer, and was consid- 
ered "away up" financially. Of course I ex- 
pected no insignificant sum for my services; it 
ought toi have been ten dollars or more ; but let 
the reader imagine, if he can, my disappoint- 

40 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

ment, if not disgust, when he handed me forty 
cents in "shinplasters." By "shinplasters" I 
mean a certain kind of currency which circu- 
lated during our civil strife in the early sixties, 
in the form of five, ten, twenty-five and fifty 
cent certificates. 

Speaking of this wedding recalls the fact that 
it was on this circuit, while visiting my uncle 
the year before, that I married my first couple. 
I remember, too, that I approached the occasion 
with great trepidation. It was an awful task. 
But the eventful hour finally came. The par- 
sonage, so called, where the nuptials were to be 
celebrated, was a log cabin of one room. The 
kitchen, which stood several feet from the main 
building, was the only place offered in which to 
arrange the toilet. At last I stood before the 
young couple and began the ceremony, which I 
had committed to memory. Yes, I had it sure, 
as I thought. I had gone over it twenty times 
or more. In practising for the occasion I had 
joined trees and fence stakes, and I know not 
what all, togther; but at the very moment 
when I needed it, and couldn't get along with- 
out it, the whole thing suddenly left me. There 
I was. After an extended pause and a most 
harrowing silence I rallied, and began by say- 
ing, "We are gathered together." Just then 
my voice failed me; it seemed impossible to 

41 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

make a noise, even. I fairly gasped for breath, 
for that was the one thing I seemed to need 
most. At last the effort was renewed. How I 
got through I never knew. I seemed to be in a 
mysterious realm, where the unknowable be- 
comes more incomprehensible, and when all the 
past and future seem to unite in the present. 
Finally I wound up what seemed to be long- 
drawn out affair, and pronounced the innocent 
couple man and wife. I am glad they always 
considered themselves married. I have but lit- 
tle recollection of what I did or said during the 
ordeal. In fact, I do not care to know, since I 
am so far away from the occasion. Yes, that 
was my first wedding. 

The year was not without its material enter- 
prises, for we completed the churches at Glady 
Fork and Waterloo, repaired one at Indian 
Camp, and started a new one at Laurel Eun. 
Some of these stand yet as moral and religious 
centers, and, at times, through the intervening 
years, have been the scenes of great spiritual 
awakenings. 

Conference was held at New Haven, in 
Mason County, with Bishop D. Edwards in the 
chair. While our report was thought to be 
fairly good, I asked for a change, believing that 
I could do better work on another field. The 



42 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

favor was granted, and Hessville Mission as- 
signed me as my third charge. 

At the close of this year there were thirty- 
one ministers employed in the conference, whose 
aggregate salary was $4,551.77, or an average 
of $147 each. The three presiding elders re- 
ceived, all told, $843.83. These figures indi- 
cate something of the sacrifices made by the 
men who gave themselves to the early work of 
building up the Church in the Virginias. 
Greater heroism of the apostolic type was never 
displayed by any of the sons of Otterbein, nor 
can any part of the country show greater 
achievements for the work done. 



43 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



CHAPTEK III. 

Hessville Mission embraced portions of 
Harrison and Marion counties, and was made 
up of the following preaching places : Quaker 
Fork, Glade Fork, Indian Eun, Big Eun, Little 
Bingamon, Ballard Schoolhouse, Salt Lick, 
Plumb Eun, and Paw-paw. In all this territory 
we did not own a single church edifice. By fall 
I had added Dent's Eun, Bee Gum, and 
Glover's Gap, making twelve appointments in 
all. At the last named place I held a revival 
in a union church. The meeting was good, and 
telling most favorably upon some of the best 
families of the town, when an unknown mis- 
creant at an early morning hour applied the 
torch and reduced the building to ashes. All I 
lost in the conflagration was my Bible and 
hymn-book. Moving into a schoolhouse near by, 
the meeting was continued, and a class organ- 
ized. By the middle of the winter there had 
been sixty-five accessions, but from that on till 
spring I had to lay by on account of measles. 

At Little Bingamon we had a great meeting. 
The entire community was deeply stirred. 



44 



Itinerating in West Virginia 



"Aunt Susan" Martin was my main helper and 
standby. While devout in life, and strong in 
faith, she had a blunt, honest way of saying 
things which often amused the people. At this 
meeting two of her children made a start. One 
was a son of some fifteen winters. He literally 
wore himself out by his night and day pleadings 
at the altar, and became so hoarse that he could 
scarcely talk. His mother was greatly agitated 
over his condition, and grew exceedingly anx- 
ious to see the intense struggle terminated. One 
evening she bowed at the altar with him that 
she might, through instruction, show him a bet- 
ter way. She did not believe that bodily exer- 
cise could be made to avail anything in seeking 
salvation. Finally, for a moment, she lost her 
patience, and said, "Now, if you don't quit this 
kind of praying you will kill yourself. Stop it, 
I tell you, or I'll box your ears good. The Lord 
isn't deaf, that you should 'holler' so loud." 
Then turning to her husband who, at the time, 
was a professed moralist, though faithful in 
attending and supporting the church services, 
she said : "George, you ought to be ashamed of 
yourself. "Not sl word have you for this poor 
child. ISTow come and talk to him. To stand 
and look on is no way to do." 

The dear sister was right, not only in think- 
ing that the father ought to help the son, but in 



45 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

protesting against unnecessary physical dem- 
onstrations in seeking religion. It is not the 
loud praying or constant pleading that saves 
men, but faith in the world's Redeemer. Rev. 
H. R. Hess, one of the leading ministers 
in the West Virginia Conference, was soundly 
converted and received into the church during 
this meeting. 

What a good home I had while on this 
charge ! Brother Daniel Mason, a father in 
Israel, whose life was as pure as a sunbeam, 
took me to his home and heart, and treated me 
very much as the Shunammite did Elisha. He 
built me a little room on his porch, and put 
therein a bed, bookcase, table, and candlestick. 
The worth of such a place to a young minister is 
next to incalculable. Twice a day he read the 
Word and prayed. He was on good terms with 
his Lord, and talked to him with the greatest as- 
surance. Some of the sweetest memories of my 
earlier ministry cluster about this Christian 
home. The fruition of the upper and better life 
he now enjoys as the reward of his faith, ser- 
vice, and devotion while here below. 

The circuit agreed to pay me $100, and kept 
its contract. The first quarter I received $14.81, 
the second, $18.35; the third, $17.75 ; and the 
last $49.05. The conference added $50, which 
pushed my support up to $150. With this sal- 

46 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

ary, much above the average for a single man, I 
could afford to pay $21.50 for a new suit of 
clothes, and $4 for a new "two-story" silk hat. 

On my way to conference a few days were 
spent with friends in the home neighborhood. 
Rev. E. Lorenz, father of the music writer, was 
living and preaching in Parkersburg at this 
time. He had organized a German congrega- 
tion, and held services in the lecture-room of 
our English church. The Committee on Enter- 
tainment sent me to stay with him during the 
conference session which was held in the city. 
Thoughts of that superlatively Christian home 
linger with me to this day. I shall never forget 
how parents and children bowed together in 
prayer, morning and evening, and how each took 
part in the devotions. Too much emphasis can- 
not be placed upon the importance of prayer 
in the home. Nothing else, on the human side, 
so anchors the family and builds up character. 
The fact that the fire has died out on so many 
domestic altars is, itself, proof that family re- 
ligion does not receive the attention it once did. 

At this conference I was permitted to pass 
the second and third years' course of reading, 
which put me in the class to be ordained. I 
can never blot from memory the prayer offered 
by the lamented Doctor Warner at the ordina- 
tion service. He seemed to pour out his very 

47 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

soul in petition to God for the; young men being 
set apart to the work of the ministry. I wept 
like a child while he thus prayed, and anew 
pledged to Jesus and the Church the service of 
my life. 

Grafton at this time was constituted a mis- 
sion station, and made my field for the coming 
year. The town then (1873) had a population 
of about three thousand souls, and was located 
mainly on a steep hillside. In fact, it stands 
about the same way yet, though containing sev- 
eral thousand more people. We had no church- 
house, and no organization, though there were 
a few members scattered through the place. 
Seventy-five dollars were appropriated by the 
conference toward my support. A preaching- 
place called "Old Sandy/' some twelve miles 
distant, was also given me. Here we had a 
gracious revival. I later took up two more 
points — Maple Run and Glade Run — and or- 
ganized a class at each. At the close of the 
year these country classes were formed into a 
separate charge, and became self-supporting. 

At Grafton the work progressed slowly, and 
with some difficulty for a time. A friend gave 
us, free of charge, the use of a church-house 
which, by some means, had fallen into his hands. 
The first thing was to organize a Sabbath 
school, which started off well. When certain 

48 




W. M. WEEKLEY, Thirty Years of Age 
Presiding Elder 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

church partisans saw the outlook, they offered 
to take part in the school, and adroitly got pos- 
session of the offices. When I discovered the 
real situation, I determined to bring the matter 
of control to an issue, and did. I deliberately 
stated that I had been sent there to organize a 
United Brethren Church and Sabbath school, 
and proposed to carry out my instructions. I 
was pleased to have teachers and other helpers 
from sister denominations join in the work, I 
added, but the school would be reported to my 
conference. The result is easily imagined. Our 
friends, so-called, suddenly dropped out, and 
from that day to this the identity of the school 
has never been questioned. 

The seventy-five dollars appropriated by the 
conference was about all I received, and twenty- 
five dollars of that went in a lump to the cen- 
tennial fund. If a kind family had not taken 
me in, free of cost, I could not have remained 
the year through. For the second year the sup- 
port given was about the same. The third year 
there were two of us to support, hence a special 
effort had to be made to increase the pay. Three 
hundred and twelve dollars was the amount ac- 
tually received, eighty dollars of which was paid 
on rent ; but we lived well; no such thing as 
want seemed to be within a thousand leagues of 
our humble home. We were thankful for cheap 
49 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

furniture and home-made carpet. Yea, more, 
we were happy. God's ravens carried us our 
daily portion. 

In the early spring of 1875, we began the 
erection of a chapel which cost, lot and all, 
$2,800. But a part of it had to be built the 
second time. Just as the frame was up and 
ready for roof and siding, a storm passing that 
way piled it in a promiscuous heap. This oc- 
curred on the seventeenth of July. Immedi- 
ately, however, the work of reconstruction was 
undertaken, and the edifice was completed in 
early fall, and dedicated by Doctor Warner. 
Such experiences try a young man's nerve and 
purpose, but invariably prove a blessing when 
the difficulties accompanying them are over- 
come. 

That year I took up an appointment at the 
Poe School-house, two miles out of town, and 
organized a class. In those days the preacher 
was expected to look around for new openings, 
no matter where he was or how large his field ; 
there is no other way to expand. My criticism 
of many of our young preachers to-day is that 
they do not try to enlarge their work. They 
seem never to look beyond the nest into which 
the conference settles them. They will live on 
half salary, and whine about it all year, rather 
than get out and look up additional territory. 

50 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

Under fair conditions, the young man who is 
devout and active can secure a good living on 
any field. Faith and purpose and push will 
win every time. The year closed with fifty- 
three members, and ninty-five in the Sunday 
school. 

The conference again convened in Parkers- 
burg, with David Edwards this time as bishop 
— the last session he ever presided over. 

At this period the battle in the Church over 
the secrecy question was waxing warm. West 
Virginia had lined up on the liberal side. The 
bishop, being pronouncedly "-anti" in his views, 
determined to enforce the rules of the Church 
in the matter of admitting applicants into the 
conference. A brother who appeared for li- 
cense was known to belong to some fraternal 
order, so the good bishop held him up. This 
brought on a crisis. All was excitement. Some 
things, it was clear, would have to be settled 
then and there, and they were. Doctor Warner 
arose, in the midst of the flurry, and demanded 
that the young brother be sent to the appropri- 
ate committee, which he said was thoroughlv 
competent to deal with the question. The 
bishop was on his feet also with the fire of 
determination fairly flashing in his eyes. How- 
ever, when he fully realized that, with an excep- 
tion or two, the entire body was against him, 

51 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

he gracefully yielded, thus happily bringing the 
unfortunate conflict to a close. By morning, 
matters had again assumed a normal condition, 
and the bishop kindly requested that all ref- 
erence to the controversy be expunged from the 
records. 

Notwithstanding Bishop Edwards' somewhat 
radical position on the secrecy question, he was 
greatly loved by all our brethren, and by none 
was his death more sincerely mourned. On 
Sunday he preached on Elijah's translation; a 
few days thereafter he was himself translated. 

Erom Grafton I was sent to New Haven cir- 
cuit, in Mason County, one hundred and sixty 
miles west. To get there I was compelled to 
borrow twenty-five dollars. Dr. J. L. Hensley 
kindly entertained us until a house could be 
found ; for as yet there was not a parsonage in 
the conference. This was considered one of the 
best fields we had. The first year it paid me 
four hundred and sixteen dollars, and the next, 
four hundred and twenty-seven dollars, with a 
few presents in the shape of vegetables, gro- 
ceries, and the like. Of course, I paid rent out 
of this — thirty-six dollars one year, and fifty 
the other. I had only four appointments — New 
Haven, Bachtel, Union, and Vernon, and these 
were close together. During the two years, one 
52 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

hundred and thirty were received into the 
Church. 

The next conference was held at Bachtel. 
which gave me my first experience in caring 
for such a body. Bishop Weaver presided and 
preached the word mightily on Sunday. He had 
been popular even since his first visit to that 
section, in 1870. By request of Hon. George 
W. Murdock, a wealthy business man in Hart- 
ford City, three miles west, he went down there 
and preached in our church on Sunday evening. 
Mr. Murdock was an ardent admirer of the 
bishop. Six years before he had entertained 
him in his home, and was charmed by him 
as a preacher and conversationalist. After 
spending the first hour with him, he slipped 
into the kitchen and said : "Wife, he is the most 
wonderful man I ever met. Do come in and 
hear him talk." The old gentleman never for- 
got the bishop's sermon on Sunday. For weeks 
afterward he would talk about it in his store, 
and elsewhere, sometimes in tears, nearly al- 
ways ending with the observation, "He is a 
wonderful man." It might not be out of place 
to note here that the good bishop more than once 
shared the benefactions of his wealthy friend. 

During my second year on this charge, a 
peculiar and most trying experience came to 
our home. A great revival was going on at 

53 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

the Union appointment. The altar was nightly 
crowded with earnest seekers, some of whom 
belonged to the best families in the community. 
EarJy one morning a young man came hurriedly 
to the place where I was stopping, and calling 
me out, said, "Mr. Weekley, I have been sent 
to tell you that your babe is dead." Hastening 
home I found the faithful mother watching at 
the side of the withered flower, and anxiously 
awaiting my coming. How loving the ministry 
of friends had been ; nor did their tender inter- 
est abate a whit until the little lifeless form was 
put away to sleep in the cemetery on the hill- 
side, in the family lot of Dr. Hensley. 

The reader may be anxious to know what I 
did under the circumstances. There was but one 
thing to do, that was to seek the guiding hand 
of duty. Our little one was gone. Just as the 
thoughtful florist takes his tender plants into 
their winter quarters before the frost appears, 
or the chilling winds sweep the plains, so a wise, 
loving, merciful Father had plucked up the 
little vine which had rooted itself so thoroughly 
and deeply in our hearts, and transplanted it 
in his own heavenly garden. Yes, Charley was 
safe ; so I returned to my meeting with a tender 
spirit, and the work continued with great 
power. 



54 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

More than one preacher who reads this inci- 
dent will recall the time, or times, when he, too, 
passed under the clond, and walked amid the 
shadows. Again and again I have been made to 
feel that some people do not sympathize with 
the minister and his wife, as they do with oth- 
ers, when the death angel tarries and lays his 
withering hand upon a young life. Somehow 
they seem to think that the cup, when admin- 
istered to the preacher's family, is not so bitter 
— that the thorn does not pierce so deeply. But 
I know better, and so do a thousand others. It 
is said of Dr. Daniel Curry, a great man in 
Methodism in his day, that he was so grieved 
over the death of his little boy that after return- 
ing home from the cemetery he went into the 
back yard, and observing his little tracks in the 
sand, got down on his hands and knees and 
kissed them. Words cannot express my sym- 
pathy for the faithful pastor and his family, 
and my admiration of that faith, devotion, and 
heroism which in so many instances are neces- 
sary to keep them in the work. 

Mason County was one of the first fields oc- 
cupied by the ministers who crossed the Alle- 
ghanies westward. Among these were G. W. 
Statton, J. Bachtel, and Moses Michael. How- 
ever, prior to this, preaching had been kept up 
on the Virginia side by pastors of the Scioto 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

Conference. The main one was Jonas Frown- 
felter, whose name deserves a place alongside 
the heroes enumerated in the eleventh chapter 
of Hebrews. On one occasion, when the Ohio 
Eiver was out of its banks, and too dangerous 
for the ferryman to venture across, he plunged 
in a little below the town of Syracuse, swam his 
horse across, and came out at Hartford City, a 
half mile below, singing like a conqueror : 

"From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 
There is a calm, a sure retreat," etc. 

All honor to those who put their sweat, and 
tears, and blood into the foundations of the con- 
ference, thus enabling others to build safely and 
successfully. 

Early in the fifties a paper known as the 
Virginia Telescope, was started in West Colum- 
bia, ostensibly in the interest of the whole 
Church, but later developments proved that the 
object was to organize a Southern United Breth- 
ren Church, making the slavery question the 
basis of the separation. When the presiding 
elder, G. W. Statton, became aware of its pur- 
pose, he threw his official influence against its 
continuance, and succeeded, by the aid of others, 
in eliminating it as a disturbing factor. 

The reader will pardon me for taking up 
these early historical threads, woven long before 

56 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

my day as an itinerant, but I have done so with 
the view to preserving in permanent form inter- 
esting facts not generally known, and nowhere 
written into the history of the Church. 



57 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



CHAPTER IV. 

Mabch of 1878, the conference assembled 
in Grafton, with Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner as 
its presiding officer. At this session the brethren 
greatly surprised me by electing me one of the 
presiding elders. iSTo thought of such a thing 
had ever entered my mind. I could not see the 
propriety of putting a young man, not yet 
twenty-seven, over men of age, ability, and expe- 
rience, hence it was with no little diffidence that 
I accepted the West Columbia District, in the 
bounds of which I had already worked two 
years. The district contained only eleven 
charges, but these were widely scattered, em- 
bracing all or parts of Cabell, Mason, Jackson, 
Wood, Putnam, Kanawha, and Roane counties, 
and were as follows: Milton, Point Pleasant, 
Cross Creek, Thirteen, Jackson, Red House, 
Pair Plain, Sandy, ]^~ew Haven, Wood, and 
Hartford City. Later, Walton was added. 

The salary assessed the district was $425 ; out 
of this I had to pay traveling expenses, provide 
a house to live in, and pay a hired girl. Under 
such conditions I could afford a house of onlv 



58 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

three rooms. I never believed in a preacher, or 
any one else, for that matter, living beyond his 
income. Debt is an awful devil for the itinerant 
to contend with, and should be avoided at all 
hazard. In all the years of my ministry I have 
never left a pastoral charge or district owing 
any one thereon a nickel. If a man is fit to be a 
preacher, debt will distract his mind and put a 
thorn in his pillow ; it cannot be otherwise with 
a sensitive nature. God save our young men 
from the habit and curse of debt-making. 

~No little of my travel, while on the district, 
was by boat on the Ohio and Big Kanawha 
rivers. Only one of my fields was touched by a 
railroad, and that was sixty miles from where I 
lived. My custom was to go by boat to the point 
nearest the place of the quarterly meeting, and 
then walk the remaining distance, whether it be 
five or twenty-five miles. Often I might have 
secured conveyance for the asking, but I felt 
that it was humiliating to be always annoying 
somebody for favors, nor have I changed an iota 
in all these years in this regard. If a preacher 
wants to make himself a nuisance among his 
parishioners, he can easily do so by constantly 
making demands upon them which look to his 
own comfort and that of his family. Many a 
time I walked from twelve to fifteen miles in a 
day, held quarterly conference, and preached 

59 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

twice. Occasionally the distance would stretch 
out to twenty miles. I did not mind the labor 
so much as I did the suffering from sore feet \ 
walking in the hot sun or over frozen roads, 
hour after hour, often caused them to blister and 
bleed. In these experiences I was not alone; 
many others, some of whom yet live, suffered 
the same or kindred hardships. 

In February of 1879 I was called home to my 
father's. After a day or two I tried to return, 
but upon reaching Parkersburg found the river 
so frozen and clogged with ice that the boats 
could not run. It was Thursday afternoon. My 
quarterly was at Oakhill, fully forty miles dis- 
tant, the next Saturday at two o'clock. The 
roads were badly frozen and almost impassable. 
When I saw the situation I determined to make 
the trip overland as best I could: if I could 
not find assistance along the way, I would walk 
it. Leaving the city at four o'clock, I traveled 
on till darkness overtook me, when I turned 
aside and knocked at the door of a humble cabin 
and asked for lodging, which was cheerfully 
granted ; but I had made only a few miles. In 
addition to the rough roads, I was burdened 
with a good-sized grip and overcoat. The next 
morning at daydawn I resumed my journey. 
Once during the day I rode two or three miles 
in somebody's sled, but beyond this I got no 



60 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

help. Long after the dinner hour I secured a 
cold lunch, which the reader may he assured 
was relished by a tired, hungry man. An hour 
before sundown I reached Sandyville, where a 
warm supper was enjoyed at a little hotel. Still 
I was fifteen miles away from the point for 
which I was aiming, and felt that I could go no 
farther without help; hut a kind friend gen- 
erously agreed to loan me his horse to ride as 
far as Ripley, seat of justice for Jackson 
County, from which place the mail-carrier was 
to lead it hack the next day ; but the poor animal 
was shoeless, and went crippling along at a 
snail's gait over the rough ground. 

Two miles distant I had to cross Sandy 
Creek, and found it partly frozen over. It was 
too dark to discern the danger of fording the 
stream. After repeated efforts, I succeeded in 
getting the horse on to the ice, hut as quick as a 
flash it fell broadside, pitching me — I never 
knew where nor just how far ; but the horse beat 
me up, turned its head homeward, and disap- 
peared in the darkness. What did I do ? Well, 
what almost anybody else would have done 
under like circumstances. I took the back track 
and returned to the village where the animal 
belonged, and found that it had returned in 
good order. The next morning my feet were so 
sore that I could not wear my shoes ; but was 



61 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

fortunate in securing a pair of arctics in which 
to travel the rest of the journey. By noon Kip- 
ley was reached, where conveyance was secured 
which enabled me to make the place of meeting 
and call the conference on schedule time. 

Some one may suggest that I was foolish for 
making such an effort to reach the quarterly 
when nothing apparently unusal was at stake; 
maybe I was, but such was my way of doing. I 
always believed that a preacher ought to fill his 
engagements promptly unless providentially 
hindered, and then he ought to be fair enough 
not to blame providence with too much ; but few 
days are ever too cold and stormy, or nights too 
dark to keep a man from his appointments if he 
is anxious to preach the word and minister to 
his people. I here record the fact, with feelings 
of satisfaction and pride, that in more than a 
third of a century I have not disappointed a 
dozen congregations. As I see it, a preacher 
succeeds in his work just as business or other 
professional men succeed in their respective 
callings. He must bestir himself, and permit no 
obstacle to get between him and duty; any 
other policy means failure. At it everywhere 
and all the time, and keeping everybody else at 
work, are the only ways to win for the Church 
and maintain a good conscience before God. 

62 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

Conference met in Hartford City. The chart 
showed that a good year had been enjoyed, 1,354 
new members being reported. Of this number, 
535 were credited to West Columbia District. 

The second year on the district was like unto 
the first — full of toil, responsibility, and peril 
betimes. 

As an indication of what was required of a 
presiding elder in order to aid his pastors and 
keep the work of the district well in hand, I re- 
late the following experience: A rainy winter 
morning found me on Milton Circuit — the last 
charge in the southwestern part of the confer- 
ence. I had an appointment that evening at 
Cross Creek, thirty-five miles east. The mud in 
some places was knee deep to my horse, but on 
and on I traveled, over hills and along meander- 
ing streams, sometimes walking myself up and 
down steep places in order to relieve my weary 
horse. At last, when it was nearly dark, I halted 
on the bank of the great Kanawha, opposite 
the town of Buffalo. But how was I to get across 
the threatening stream? The ice lay piled in 
great heaps on either shore; the man who 
tended the ferry hesitated to come after me 
when I called to him, but he was given to 
understand that in some way I must be gotten 
over. Finally he agreed to make the attempt, 
and after hard rowing, landed me on the oppo- 

63 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

site side but below the regular coming-out place, 
and where the ice was badly gorged. Then the 
real difficulty of the venture was apparent. We 
had to get the horse up over the great blocks of 
ice that lay at the water's edge, and it was to 
two of us an exciting time ; no one can describe 
it on paper. Holding on to the animal, pulling 
my best at the bridle-rein all the wh:le, the ferry- 
man pushing with all his might, we finally 
scrambled over the ice and through narrow pas- 
sageways until a place of safety was reached. 
How thankful I felt when it was all over, and 
how I loved that horse ! Doctor Warner used 
to tell how his faithful horse once swam an 
angry stream, and that after the shore had been 
reached in safety he dismounted, put his arms 
around the neck of his deliverer, kissed his lips, 
and wept for joy. Itinerating in the early days 
of the West Virginia Conference meant all this, 
and sometimes much more. 

When I got to the church, two miles farther 
on, I found the congregation waiting and ready 
to join in the service. It might be stated, in this 
connection, that in those days the coming of the 
"elder" was an extraordinary event, and seldom 
failed to bring out the entire community. 

The following evening I had an engagement 
to preach at Mount Moriah, still farther east 
some thirty miles. It rained the day through. 

64 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

A part of the journey I followed a single trail, 
popularly known as a "hog path." Such a route 
relieved me somewhat from the mud, but, being 
in the woods, I could not carry an umbrella over 
me, hence had to take the rain as it came; but 
I must not disappoint the people. They had my 
word for it that I would be there, and the prom- 
ise must be sacredly kept. It was a little after 
dark when I caught a glimpse of the lights in 
the old log church ; but, hold ! I suddenly found 
myself up against another serious difficulty — 
Parchment Creek was out of its banks. There 
seemed no show for getting over except to 
plunge in and swim my horse. I hesitated; 
already wet ?nd cold, I was loath to make the 
attempt. I would have to carry my saddle-bags 
on my shoulder if I saved my Bible, hymn-book, 
and sermons ; the water would come to my 
waist, to say the least. Then another trouble 
appeared ; it was too dark to see the road or 
landing-place on the opposite side, and I might 
drift below it with the current and not get out 
at all. While thus cogitating, I heard some 
boys talking on the other side as they were going 
to church. Calling to them, I said, "Boys, can't 
you in some way help me over the creek?" 
"Who are you ?" was the reply. "I 'm the 
preacher," I answered, "and want to* get to the 
church." After a short consultation among 

65 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

themselves, one of thero. shouted back, "All 
right ; we '11 bring the skiff after yon." Soon I 
heard them push out from the shore, and in a 
few moments they landed near me. "Now," 
said one, "you get in here with Bill, and I '11 
swim your hoss over," and in less time than it 
takes to pen the happenings, he was in the 
saddle on his knees and starting for the water. 
Did he get over safely? Yes, indeed; he en- 
tered the stream above the usual place of going 
in, hence the horse swam, not against the cur- 
rent, but at an angle with it. In every way pos- 
sible I thanked those boys for their kindness to 
me, for they had certainly kept me from putting 
my life in peril. If they are still living and 
should happen to glance over these pages, they 
will readily recall the event. 

The church was nearly full of people, and I 
certainly enjoyed preaching to them. The great 
Father had been graciously with me to guide my 
ways and to protect my life. How glad I will 
be if, on the morning of the eternal to-morrow, 
I shall find that the service that evening helped 
some soul heavenward! 

Eev. W. W. Eymer, over thirty years ago, 
nearly lost his life in this same region on 
account of high waters. His horse either could 
not or would not swim, but plunged furiously 
when beyond his depth. The heroic itinerant 

66 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

stayed in the saddle as long as lie could, but was 
finally dislodged and went down. In the midst 
of it all he retained his presence of mind and 
aimed for the nearest shore, which was not far 
away. Being unable to swim, he crawled on the 
bottom a part of the way, and at last found him- 
self where he could stand with his head above 
the water. The horse, fortunately, came out on 
the same side. Commenting on the incident, 
Mr. Bymer says: "After my deliverance, it was 
clear to me that I had been near death's door, 
and also near heaven. Two thoughts followed; 
one was: 'If I had not escaped, I would now 
be in glory/ and I confess I felt good over the 
reflection. The other was: '!Nb, it is better 
that I got out, for if I had drowned, my parents 
would have had great sorrow.' I took it all to 
mean that my work was not yet done, and soon 
experienced great peace of mind. Almost 
thirty-one years have come and gone since then, 
but the ruling purpose of my heart all the while 
has been to preach Jesus. Before thirty-one 
years more have rolled around, I shall have gone 
through death's river — yes, through to the other 
side, where I shall see my Lord face to face." 

Let the reader be assured that there is a pro- 
found satisfaction in looking back to those times 
of trial and suffering, of battle and victory, 
when the ways of Providence were so plain, and 

67 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

when an unspeakable joy crowned the years of 
toil and service. 

After another ride of twelve miles from 
Mount Moriah, I reached my home in Cottage- 
ville, near the Ohio River. How inexpressibly 
delightful to be at home again with wife and 
little ones ! What a heavenly place home is 
when love and sunshine await the itinerant's 
coming ! While he ministers to them, they also 
minister tenderly to him; such mutual love 
and helpfulness is to be found nowhere else. 

My support for the year consisted of $427.83 
in salary and $22.41 in presents. Fifty dollars 
of this went for house rent, and fully as much 
more for traveling expenses. Beside these out- 
lays, we kept hired help in the home all the 
time. 

Buckhannon, Upshur Country, was the seat 
of the next session of the conference. The noble 
Bishop Glossbrenner was with us in the fullness 
of the Spirit, and charmed us with the warmth 
and sweetness of his gospel messages. As re- 
cording secretary, I edited a little "daily," 
which gave the proceedings of the conference. 
This was the first and last attempt of the kind. 
Such an arrangement is nice, to be sure, and 
sounds well when we talk about it, but it always 
costs more than it is worth. The town papers 



68 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

are usually willing and anxious to report the 
work. 

During the session a most amusing incident 
took place. A colored brother by the name of 
Waldo came to me at the noon hour on Thurs- 
day, and asked me to marry him that evening at 
eight o'clock. I said, "Waldo, I cannot grant 
your request. We have an evening session of 
conference, and I must be there. However, if 
you will put it off till nine o'clock, I will be on 
hand." But to such an arrangement he would 
not agree. The long-looked-for moment could 
not be delayed. Eight o'clock was the hour 
about which clustered the sweetest anticipations 
of his life. The goal toward which he had 
striven must be reached and won on schedule 
time. So, with a twinkle of the eye, character- 
istic of the negro, he exclaimed : "Good Lawd ! 
the thing's gone too fan now; no putting it 
off." Of course I had to arrange for another 
secretary under circumstances so vitally essen- 
tial to the brother's happiness and welfare. The 
reason why he chose me to perform the cere- 
mony, he said, was because I had converted him 
eight years before. 



69 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



CHAPTER V. 

The third year on the district brought the 
usual routine of duties and hardships. By the 
help of Brother John Dodds, who gave me fifty 
dollars, I was enabled to purchase a horse and 
buggy, paying $125 for the entire outfit. This 
arrangement relieved me of much walking. The 
horses and mules occasionally used during the 
previous years were borrowed or hired. My 
muleback riding, however, was suddenly broken 
off by a rather painful incident which occurred 
one night. Striking a bit of good road, I 
spurred the animal into a gallop, but something 
happened ; its forelegs seemed to give way, and 
it turned a complete somersault. With my arms 
extended, I went on, like a flying-machine, sev- 
eral feet before I struck the ground. The fall 
nearly killed me. I rolled about in agony for 
a while before I thought of the mule, but when 
I was able to get up I observed the treacherous 
beast leisurely eating grass in the fence corner 
near by, as if nothing had happened. I never 
liked a mule after that, and, to the best of my 
knowledge, have not been on one since. 



70 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

I never thought it out of place to have a little 

innocent fun once in a while, "Laugh and 

grow fat," is an old adage which has more in it 

than some people suppose. A long, wry face is 

a poor sign of piety. To assume a look of 

seriousness, as though religion were made up of 

clouds and shadows and disappointments, is a 

false representation of the Christian life. If 

any person on earth has a right to be cheerful 

and to smile all over his face, it is the one who 

honestly endeavors to serve God, and has his 

eyes throneward all the while. Yes — 

"A little nonsense now and then 
Is relished by the wisest men." 

Certainly, then, there is nothing wrong in those 
not so wise enjoying it. 

One blustery March day, after a. long, irksome 
ride over the hills, I was passing a farmhouse 
where two young lads were chopping wood. 
Here is an opportunity, I thought, to have a 
little sport; so, reining in my horse, I called, 
"Say, boys, can you tell me how far it is to 
where I want to go ?" In an instant one of them 
replied, "Yes, sir ; three lengths of a fool ; get 
off and measure." It was no time to talk back, 
or to interpose objections to such rudeness with 
a presiding elder. I had gotten myself into the 
difficulty, so had to get out as gracefully as pos- 
sible. Bidding them the time of day, I passed 

71 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

on, descanting in an undertone upon the subject 
of depravity, and wondering what was to become 
of the rising generation. Since then I have 
deemed it wise to approach the average boy 
somewhat cautiously, as one never knows when 
or in what direction his gun will go off*. 

About this time, and perhaps in connection 
with this trip, I had an amusing experience 
with a brother who^ appeared before the quar- 
terly conference for license to preach. When 
asked to state his views on depravity, he frankly 
admitted that he did not fully understand the 
doctrine, but said he believed that man was 
"teetotally deprived." Before the examination 
was over the conference was clear in its judg- 
ment that it could not afford to credential a man 
who was deprived of common sense. 

During the year it was my privilege and 
pleasure to convey the greetings of my confer- 
ence first to the West Virginia Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and then to 
the Baptist Association of the State. Both were 
large, influential bodies, and received with 
marked cordiality the messenger sent by the 
United Brethren. 

While our people of the conference were 
loyal, and believed in a robust, aggressive de- 
nominationalism, they were free from that nar- 
row, bigoted sectarianism which is so unlike the 

72 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

religion we profess. They were cordial and 
generous in their treatment of others, and al- 
ways ready to grasp the hand of fellowship, no 
matter hy whom extended. They believed in 
union, and do yet. As far back as 1870, the 
following was spread upon the conference min- 
utes : 

"Wheeeas, The tendency of the times is 
toward a more intimate union among the 
various religious denominations of the country ; 
and, whereas, negotiations are now going on be- 
tween the Evangelical Association and the 
United Brethren in Christ, looking toward their 
union; therefore, 

"Resolved, That we, as a conference, enter- 
tain the idea of such a union most favorably, 
and hope that it can be effected on terms alike 
honorable to both denominations." 

Bishop Glossbrenner again presided at the 
next session of conference, which convened in 
Parkersburg. The aggregate salary reported by 
my district for pastoral support was $2,03 G, 
and for the presiding elder, $411.21. The 
thirty-four pastors in the entire conference 
received, all told, $6,535, or an average each 
of $192. Think of it, ye who scan these lines ! 
Men of God working twelve months for a pit- 
tance; men of brains and character, of devo- 
tion and heroism ; think, too, of their families ! 



73 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

The wife and mother at home continually, 
with but few social, or other advantages; the 
little ones barefooted the year 'round, and some- 
times far removed from school and church — 
all that the husband and father might preach, 
and win sinners to the Cross. Glorious record, 
this! the dear Lord has it in his book. 

Does some one ask how our men died ? Like 
conquerors. Awhile before conference William 
H. Diddle, my predecessor on the district, and 
a comrade in toil, was called to the heavenly 
home. The end was beautiful, and found his 
soul in rapture. When far out in the river 
he shouted back, "Do not be excited. If this is 
death, I am not afraid to die." His life had 
been as pure as a sunbeam. His unselfishness 
was a marvel to many. He literally gave him- 
self for the good of others, and thus became 
one with his divine Christ, both in sacrifice 
and service. As he entered the gates I think 
Jesus said: ''Stand back, Gabriel; stand back, 
Michael; stand back, all ye angelic hosts, and 
make room for one who must be next only to 
myself." What a change from a poor, three- 
hundred-doilar circuit ! 

For the fourth time I was sent back to the 
district, but I returned with the feeling that 
this must be the last year. In my report to 
conference I had asked to be relieved from 



74 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

district work, but the brethren did not see fit 
to grant the request. 

I am, and always have been opposed to long 
terms of office. The duties entailed by posi- 
tions of trust usually are such as to interfere 
with systematic study. This is the main rea- 
son why many officials narrow down in their 
pulpit work to a few sermons. They do not 
have time to prepare new discourses. Then 
there is a tendency among those who hold office, 
whether in the annual conference or general 
Church, to develope a spirit of bossim, which is 
incompatible with United Brethrenism. Per- 
haps the men in office are not so much at fault 
as is the system which keeps them there. They 
somehow get the notion that they must have a 
finger in everything, and that nothing can be 
done exactly right without them. There may 
be, and are notable exceptions, of course, but 
they are few and widely separated. 

Having been elected to the General Confer- 
ence, with Z. Warner and E. Harper as associ- 
ates, I attended the meeting of that body which 
occurred in Lisbon, Iowa, the following May. 
This was all new to me, but the conference 
was hardly so interesting as were the vast 
prairies of Illinois and Iowa, and the marvel- 
ous products of the great farms to be seen on 
every hand. In feeding our horses and cattle 

75 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

in West Virginia, we almost invariably al- 
lotted to each just so many ears of corn. Even 
the swine we expected to butcher were given a 
daily allowance; but in Iowa I was surprised 
to see chickens, hogs, cattle, anJ everything 
else given free access to the compile. But such 
is their way of doing out West, The rich soil 
is transmuted into corn, the corn into pork and 
beef, and these into gold, which has developed 
on the material side a wonderful country. 

During each of the four years I spent on 
the district, we held a ministerial institute. 
This portable school of the prophets was sug- 
gested by Eev. E. Harper, now a presiding 
elder in North Nebraska, as far back as 1875. 
A whole week at a time would be spent in hear- 
ing recitations and lectures, and the work was 
most thorough. Our studies embraced Old and 
New Testament history, systematic theology, 
Christian ethics, homiletics, church history, 
mental and moral philosophy, English gram- 
mar, the English Bible, etc. Some of the text- 
books used were gone through again and again 
in the course of a few years. We used charts, 
maps, the blackboard — in fact, everything that 
would aid in the study of the Word, quicken 
a desire for knowledge, and increase the preach- 
er's efficiency in the pulpit. Dr. Warner was 
at first our main preceptor ; and what a teacher 

7G 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

he was! thorough, clear, and enthusiastic; 
he knew what he wanted to say, and how to say 
it. He was mighty in the Scriptures; and as a 
pulpiteer and platform speaker had no equal 
in his conference, and perhaps nowhere else 
in the Church. Later, others took part in the 
work of instruction, which greatly pleased him, 
relieving him of much of the burden assumed 
in the outset. 

A resolution was adopted to the effect that 
any preacher who wilfully absented himself 
from these gatherings, designed especially for 
his mental and moral improvement, should be 
left without work until all others had been em- 
ployed. This policy was drastic, to be sure, 
but in the end it proved a blessing to our min- 
istry. Much of the clerical material we had 
on hand was exceedingly raw, but genuine, nev- 
ertheless, and susceptible of being wrought into 
a hiffhly-finished and useful product. One young 
brother affirmed, publicly, that the crucifixion 
occured seventy years before the flood; an- 
other, in preaching on Daniel in the lions 
den, said he didn't know how he got to Babylon 
unless he had been shipwrecked. Both of these 
were good men, and one of them proved very 
successful as an itinerant. Cases of such dense 
ignorance were rare, of course, but to such 
brethren the institute was of incalculable value, 

77 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

as history, geography, chronology, and other 
features of biblical study were made a specialty. 
But let no one be deceived into thinking that all, 
or a majority were illiterates. Far from it. 
Some were giants in the pulpit, and were heard 
with gladness by the multitudes. One after 
another, other conferences took up the institute 
idea, until it prevails to-day in one form or an- 
other in nearly all the conferences, and no doubt 
will remain a permanent fixture in the methods 
of the Church. The plan is a good one, and com- 
mends itself especially to young men who are 
striving for self-improvement in the pulpit, and 
along lines of practical work. However, be- 
fore the institute should come the college and 
seminary. At a time like the present, when 
money is abundant, and the beneficiary aid of 
the church may be drawn upon, every one look- 
ing toward the ministry should seek and secure 
the help proffered by these great institutions. 
The character and mission of any denomination 
depend upon the type of its preachers. The 
United Brethren Church is no exception to this 
rule. 

Grafton was the seat of the next conference, 
Bishop J. Dickson directing its business. The 
year had been fairly successful in various ways, 
but the salaries remained exceedingly low. 
Over the conference they average $202.88. 

78 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

My own was $433.18, with the addition 
of $74.50 in presents. Of the thirty-seven 
charges reported, only two paid as much as 
$400; fivepaid from $300 to $350; eleven 
from $200 to $300 ; while all the rest fell below 
$200. But the brethren were ready and willing 
to try it again. The secretary says at the close 
of the proceedings : "The unanimity among the 
preachers and delegates, and the deep solicitude 
manifested by all for the prosperity of the con- 
ference, made the entire session remarkably 
pleasant." Kef erring to the Sabbath evening 
service, he adds : "At the close a number of the 
ministers made brief remarks relative to their 
past hardships, and bespoke the prayers of the 
conference for success during the coming year. 
This part of the service was deeply affecting." 
Yes, I remember the occasion well. Dr. Landis, 
of the Seminary, was present, and wept with the 
rest of us, as he listened to the story of more 
than one who was willing to "endure hardness 
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." 

The following will indicate the courageous 
attitude of the conference on questions of moral 
reform : 

"Whereas, the use of tobacco is expensive, 
filthy, unnecessary, and, therefore, an evil, and, 

"Whereas, it is especially unbecoming for 
ministers of the gospel to surrender to an 



79 



Twenty Years on Horsebackj or 

acquired appetite, defile the body, the temple 
of the Holy Ghost, and thus, by example, 
encourage the young to do likewise ; and, 

"Whereas, this evil cannot be remedied so 
long as ministers freely and openly indulge in 
it, therefore, 

" Resolved 1. That from this time forward 
no person be granted license to preach by this 
Annual Conference who persists in the use of 
tobacco. 

" Resolved, 2. That all licentiates who in- 
dulge this habit be required to give it up before 
taking upon themselves the vows of ordination." 

The significance of this action will be more 
fully appreciated when it is understood that 
West Virginia is a tobacco-producing State, 
and that its use, in one form or another, is 
pretty general among the people. A report on 
temperance, which mercilessly arraigned the 
liquor traffic, and its political abetters, was also 
adopted. Here is a sentence or two from it: 
"Believing as we do that prohibition is both 
humane and holy, we can have no sympathy for 
a policy, or a Christianity that ignores it at 
the ballot-box." Men who were willing to work 
for a pittance, which meant that they and their 
families were to go scantily fed, and half 
clothed, all for the sake of redeeming their 
native State, could not be expected to condone 



80 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

the offenses of the liquor dealer, or to have 
decent respect for those who did. 

The next two years were spent in Parkers- 
burg. During the first we had a blessed revival 
which continued several weeks ; in all, more than 
seventy joined the Church. But during the 
second year the work was hindered by circum- 
stances beyond human control. A great sorrow 
came to our home. By degrees the shadows 
deepened, until the mother of my three children 
bade us a final adieu, and pushed out into the 
unseen. God pity and help the itinerant to 
whom such an experience comes! But my own 
mother, now of such precious memory, was 
ready to take the little ones, and to bestow upon 
them that wealth of care and love which never 
fails to enrich the life. 

The next year was given to the financial man- 
agement of the West Virginia Normal and 
Classical Academy, located at Buckhannon. 
While the school did excellent work for a few 
years, it eventually went down for want of ma- 
terial support. In view of the losses and disap- 
pointments and alienations caused by its 
failure, I am not sure that the conference did a 
wise thing in starting it, Little colleges have 
their advantages, I grant, but trying to operate 
one at every cross-roads on faith and enthusi- 
asm, is too much of a good thing. 

81 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

By consent of the conference I agreed to give 
a few months to the business management and 
associate editorship of the W est Virginia Free- 
man, the State prohibition organ. During this 
period I made a partial canvass of the State in 
the interest of a prohibition amendment then 
pending. It would require a whole chapter to 
tell of my experiences with the old political 
partisans, some of whom fairly went into 
spasms at the very mention of prohibition. Our 
presidential candidate, John P. St. John, had 
defeated James G. Blaine, so the Republicans 
affirmed ; hence they were ready to vote against 
anything, or anybody, the angel Gabriel not 
excepted, who believed on any point as St. John 
did. Many of these were Christians, so-called, 
and some of them members of my own Church. 
I knew them well ; and be it said to their ever- 
lasting shame, that they went against the 
amendment, jnst as did every whiskyite in the 
Stata 

Under our system of government the ballot 
has in it a moral element, and therefore will 
meet us at the bar of final reckoning. It not 
only has to do with our political, industrial, 
and educational affairs, but with the church 
and family as well. What show will a man 
have at the last day whose ballot has constantly 
belied his profession as a Christian? I have 

82 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

never been able to understand how he could 
enthrone his Lord in the affairs of state by 
voting a ticket perfectly satisfactory to the 
drunkard-maker. It remains for an allwise 
God to determine what disposition shall be 
made of these vicious ballots when the judg- 
ment day comes. Personally, I have no respect 
for, or confidence in any United Brethren or 
member of any other church who, knowingly, 
votes for a man for any office who is opposed to 
my Christ and the cause for which he stands. 

Being ever ready to "speak my piece" against 
the saloon and its allies, I was constantly stir- 
ring up a "hornet's nest" over the business. 
When I spoke against it, whether in public or 
private, I never hesitated to pay my respects 
to the machine politician, since I regarded him 
and rum as closely related. As the result, some 
of the newspapers and office-seekers got after 
me with a vengeance. This I confess was to 
my liking, since I felt sure I was making at 
least some kind of impression upon them. Then 
it gave me a chance to answer their criticisms, 
and puncture their fallacies. The following 
extract from one of my replies may be of inter- 
est to the reader. The principle laid down will 
always hold good: 

"All at once the saloonist and politician are 
becoming greatly concerned over the question 

83 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

of 'pure and undented religion' ; and well they 
may, for if religion is effectually taken into 
politics they will as certainly go out. This 
they fully understand, hence yell themselves 
hoarse in trying to divert attention when the 
pulpit begins to let the light in upon their devi- 
lish business. While a man is a minister of 
the gospel, he is also a citizen in common with 
other men. The fact that he pay? taxes, lives 
under, and is subject to the laws of our com- 
monwealth, makes him such. Then most as- 
suredly he has the same right as other men to 
be heard upon great political issues that affect 
the well-being of his country. If not, why not % 
Touching all moral and political affairs which 
have to do with the home, the individual, and 
the general good of the community, the pulpit 
has ever stood at the front, and so it ever will, 
unless it sells out to the saloon. 

"The truth is, under a government like ours, 
presumably Christian, all political questions 
have a moral phase, and to a greater or less 
extent involve the question of religion. In 
other words, every question in politics touches 
at some point the work of the pulpit, therefore 
it is right and proper for the minister to discuss 
before his people', prudently, of course, the 
moral bearings of all these issues. There is 
nothing that the liquor ring, and old-line poli- 

84 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

ticians would rather do than to stifle the utter- 
ances of the pulpit, for well they know that the 
molding of sentiment, and the training of the 
moral forces by which the eternal God proposes 
to overthrow and dash in pieces their strength, 
must there begin." 

In May of this year, 1885, I attended my 
second General Conference, which met at Fos- 
toria, Ohio, in company with Z. Warner, E. 
Harper, and S. J. Graham. The occasion was 
an historic one. Radicalism was given a black 
eye; the forces of the Church were realigned, 
and the clouds which had so long hung over 
our Zion were pierced by the sunlight of a new 
day. 



So 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



CHAPTER VI. 

The time of holding the annual conference 
having been changed from spring to fall, the 
next session was held at the Simmons' chapel, in 
Lewis County. I was again made presiding 
elder, stationed on Parkersburg District, and 
soon moved to Pennsboro, where my headquar- 
ters remained for the next four years. My 
diocese extended from Parkersburg to Irondale, 
a distance, east and west, of one hundred and 
sixteen miles, and from the Ohio Piver on the 
north far interior to the south. The fields em- 
braced were Parkersburg Station, Parkersburg 
Circuit, Volcano', Pennsboro, Troy, Middle Is- 
land, Littles Mills, Grafton, Irondale, Hessville, 
Tanner, Sylvan Mills, and Smithton. 

A vast amount of hard work, I soon discov- 
ered, would be necessary to make anything like 
a commendable showing in a territory so large 
and difficult to cultivate. The first duty with 
me was to care for my preachers. It was my 
notion then, and my views have not changed in 
all these years, that if a presiding elder wants 
his men to do good work he must, first of all, 

86 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

do his best for them financially. If the salary 
was insufficient, and it nearly always was, as 
I have shown many times over, it had to be 
supplemented in one way or another. If the 
stewards were worthless, I asked them to resign. 
If they did not know how to collect, I went 
along and instructed them as best I could. In 
some cases we would canvass the entire neigh- 
borhood with a two-horse team and wagon, and 
gather up flour, corn, potatoes, chickens, meat, 
eggs, sorghum, butter — in a word, anything and 
everything that could be used at the parsonage, 
or exchanged for groceries. When nothing bet- 
ter could be done, I would load up my own horse 
with flour and meat and lead him to the preach- 
er's home with his precious cargo of provisions. 
Then what a good time we would have ! Some 
who are yet at work in the conference were 
helped in this way. I also found it profitable 
to have the people on each field, if at all pos- 
sible, make the pastor a present of a new suit 
of clothes each year. The plan is usually a 
popular one, and in most cases can be worked, 
if placed in the hands of the right persons. It 
is the equivalent of just so much extra cash 
to the preacher. But with some it may be a 
query as to how I managed the indifferent 
pastor. Sometimes one way, and sometimes 
another. Every presiding elder, I suppose, has 

87 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

his own methods. My plan was first to aid and 
encourage him all I possibly could. I tried to 
prove to him, in a substantial way, that I was 
his friend, and wanted to help him make his 
work a success. If, after all this, he persisted 
in being a failure, I frankly told him he would 
have to drop out. Such a step requires courage, 
I know, but it must be taken once in a while. 
"No railroad company or any other business con- 
cern would think of employing inefficient, 
untrustworthy men : such a policy would be 
suicidal; nor can an elder afford to supply his 
fields with those who are utterly devoid of fit- 
ness for a work so high and responsible. 

A man may be a "good fellow" in many 
respects, and promise to support his elder if 
continued in active service, but these things 
should have no weight in the matter of appoint- 
ments. The welfare of the church should al- 
ways be considered before that of the individ- 
ual. If either must go down, let it be the 
preacher. Why put him in a position to chill, 
discourage, and perhaps wreck a whole charge ? 
"Not should a man be employed if inefficient by 
reason of age or poor health. The fact that a 
minister was once successful is no reason for 
continuing him indefinitely in the pastorate. A 
record of usefulness, I know, is a crown of 
glory to any old, worn-out toiler, but with such 

88 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

glory he ought to he satisfied. I have always 
hoped, and still do, that I may have sense and 
grace enough to retire of my own accord before 
my conference is compelled to put me on the 
shelf. The church, however, should provide a 
comfortable living for her servants when they 
can no longer remain at the front. They de- 
serve such recognition, and to withhold it is to 
sin against them and the God whose they are, 
and whom they have served. 

With reference to the presiding elder, or 
superintendent, I will further say that he is 
the most useful and important man we have if 
he does his duty faithfully ; otherwise he is the 
biggest bore in the church. He is not a success 
if he does mere routine work and nothing more. 
He must reach out. He must be larger than his 
district, yet strive all the while to make it as 
big as himself. He must keep things going. If 
resourceful, he will always find a way to inspire 
and profit his men, if there is anything in them 
to respond to his efforts. If he is not a general, he 
is not fit for the place. He must go panoplied 
with helmet and breast-plate, shield and sword, 
ready to fight, preach, or die, on a moment's 
notice. How the church and pastor are to be 
pitied when compelled to suffer three or four offi- 
cial visits during the year from an old, dry stick, 
destitute of sympathy and enthusiasm. 

89 



Tzventy Years on Horseback, or 

The year was not without its incidents, both 
serious and amusing. During one of my quar- 
terlies held in the Big Fishing Creek region a 
fight occurred among some of the toughs as they 
went from church on Saturday evening. In 
an article to the county paper I took occasion 
to criticise, rather sharply, such behavior, and 
emphasized the fact that the officers of law 
ought to do their duty in all such cases. In 
fact, the derelict officials were as severely ar- 
raigned as were the offending pugilists. 

Three months later I was in that section 
again; after the Sabbath morning services, at 
Mt, Olive, I went to Laurel, some miles away, 
to fill an evening appointment. After riding 
quite a distance along a high ridge, which over- 
looks all the country around it, I turned down a 
little ravine which lead to Laurelrun; but sud- 
denly my cogitations were interrupted by a big, 
burly sixfooter, who knew of my coming and 
was waiting for me. Stepping in front of my 
horse, he blurted out, "Are you the feller what 
wrote that piece in the paper about me ?" I re^ 
plied that I did not know who he was, or 
what "piece" he referred to. "I'm one of them 
fighters you wrote about in the Star/' he said, 
"but what you writ wasn't true, so I thought I 
would wait for you here." In the meantime we 
were both moving slowly down the hill, and he 



90 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

was at my side. If ever I did hard, double- 
quick thinking, it was then. I knew what he 
was there for, and a general mix-up seemed 
inevitable. I at once decided on a policy. I 
would talk him out of any evil intent he might 
have, if it were possible to do so; if not, and 
nothing else would suffice, I would get off my 
horse and stay with him just as many rounds 
as I could, with the hope that somebody might 
come along and help me out, if help was needed. 
I began to explain how and where I got my 
information, find how I felt over such unbecom- 
ing conduct on the way from divine worship. At 
this point he interjected the remark that my 
informant was a liar, using adjectives and 
expletives which would not look well in print. 
But I kept on with my speech, using all the 
eloquence and fervor at my command. I expati- 
ated on the the sacredness of worship, and por- 
trayed in the most vivid colors possible the 
beauty and praiseworthiness of the young man 
who honors the gospel, and loves and lives in 
peace with all men. Though there was blood 
in his eye at the start, I soon observed that I 
was gaining on him. By and by he began to 
sanction what I said. It was clear that I had 
his attention, so I kept on talking something 
good to him until he finally stopped me as 
abruptly as when we first met, saying, "Wal, I 

91 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

guess Fie go back. I kinder thought I'd like 
to ax you about it. Good-by." What a feeling 
of relief came to me as the fellow disappeared. 
A scrap, and possibly something worse, had 
been avoided. I at once decided, however, that 
the country editor thereafter would have to look 
elsewhere for information when such brawls 
occurred. Such a narrow escape from — I did 
not know what — convinced me that at least in 
that particular locality the work of a newspaper 
correspondent was incompatible with that of a 
presiding elder. 

It was on one of my visits to this same field 
that I made some of our own dear people very 
cross over a little verse, purely original, which 
I wrote on the blackboard. Nearly everybody 
used tobacco in some form. Many of the wom- 
en were snuff dippers, and smoked the pipe, 
while nearly all the men either chewed or 
smoked, or did both. The stanza ran thus: 

Who can chew the dirty stuff, 
In the sacred place of pra3 r er? 

Who can smoke or iub snuff, 
And feel that God is there? 

Years afterward, I was told that some were 
still talking about that bit of poetry. 

The district paid a salary of $496.53 to the 
elder. Out of this he paid for house rent and 

92 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

car fare, $110. The thirty-seven pastors of the 
conference received an average of $140 each. 
The highest salary, $480, was received by Rev. 
R. A. Hitt, on Parkerstmrg Station, $100 of 
which was put into rent. The good Lord only 
knows how he managed to keep his family in 
respectability, entertain his many visitors, and 
meet other legitimate expenses, on the pittance 
of $380. And the same query may be raised 
in the case of nearly all his colaborers; but 
they somehow succeeded in making ends meet. 
As one of them expressed it, "When my wife 
scrapes the bottom of the flour barrel, God al- 
ways takes notice." "This is the victory that 
overcometh the world, even our faith." In 
addition to the aggregate salary received, the 
"presents" amounted to $1,276.28, or about 
$34, upon an average, to each pastor. The net 
increase in the membership of the conference 
was 564, an excellent showing. But the most 
vexing problem was financial. Times were 
hard, money scarce, and the people generally 
poor. Yet we believed and wrought in expecta- 
tion of larger things. Thank God, they are 
coming. 

Pennsboro was the seat of the next conference 
session. Bishop Weaver presided. Perhaps 
the most striking event of the occasion was the 
presence of Dr. Lewis Davis, of Union Biblical 

93 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

Seminary. It was his first appearance among 
us. Probably the wide difference between 
his views and those of the conference on the 
secrecy question had kept him from making 
an earlier visit ; but his presence was highly 
appreciated by us all, and in turn he greatly 
enjoyed the courtesies accorded him by the 
brethren. As I bade him good-by at the train, 
he said, "Didn't we have a glorious time? I 
am glad I came. Wish I had come long ago." 

The second year on the district was more 
trying and laborious than the first. The preach- 
er placed in charge of Volcano Circuit resigned 
before the holidays, and not being able to secure 
a suitable supply, I decided to keep up the work 
myself in connection with the duties of the 
district. The nearest point was ten miles from 
my home, and the farthest twenty-five; this 
gave me seven preaching-places ; namely, Zion, 
Volcano, St. Paul, Long Pun, Big Run, 
Harmony Grove, and Freeport. I could give 
the charge only an occasional Sabbath, hence 
was compelled to do my preaching and visiting 
among the people on week days. I held three 
revivals, preached eighty-three sermons, and 
collected all the conference benevolences; for 
this extra service I received $150. Serving as 
pastor and presiding elder both, kept me from 
home nearly all the time. It was no uncommon 



94 



Itinerating in West Virginia 



thing to reach home late at night, and then 
leave early the next morning; but to work 
was a pleasure and joy; I did not mind the 
loss of sleep. There was not enough terror in 
the storm, or "warring elements," to prevent 
the filling of my engagements. No day was too 
cold, or night too> dark to travel, if, by so doing 
something could be done toward lifting up the 
district. I hope there is no egotism in what I 
here say. There is none. I simply state the 
facts. I lay no claim to superior devotion over 
my brethren who worked at my side, and were 
loyal to the core. No others but brave, true 
men can succeed among the mountains, or any- 
where else for that matter; but in some places 
more faith and courage and sacrifice are neces- 
sary than in others. 

How I pitied my family. They were alone 
almost constantly year in and year out. Under 
such circumstances it was impossible for me to 
know my children well, or for them to know 
their father. This statement may be a revela- 
tion to many. If any are in doubt as to its 
correctness, let them ask the opinion of those 
who have done district work for years at a time. 

I never left home without first commending 
my loved ones to the care of the sleepless Eye; 
nor did I at any time while absent forget them 
in my devotions. 

95 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

Too much cannot be said for the faithful 
wife of the itinerant. But alas ! her worth, I 
fear, is not appreciated by the church as it 
deserves to be. People watch and criticise her, 
to be sure, as they do but few other women, but 
as a rule she is not accorded a very large place 
in the achievements of her husband. Indeed, 
I sometimes fear the minister himself does not 
realize her true relation to his success in soul- 
winning. God only knows her anxiety and 
heart-yearnings as she struggles with the prob- 
lems of the home in the absence of her husband. 
What a care the children are to her ! But she 
toils on, as best she can with the means, some- 
times sadly limited, at her command. 

The fact is, many a successful preacher to- 
day would be out of the work but for his 
devoted wife. When ready to quit, and turn 
aside to some other occupation more lucrative, 
she put her womanly heart up against his, and 
urged him on to duty. 

Said one of these noble helpers : "Husband, 
I know we are poor. Our carpets are old and 
faded, and our furniture is scant and plain. I 
know our dear children are barefooted, and can't 
go to school ; but I want you to keep on preach- 
ing." With a faith unfaltering, and a courage 
invincible, she was willing to stay in the field — 
96 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

ready to serve, ready to sacrifice, ready to die, 
and, thank God, ready for heaven. 

Her interest in her husband, God's servant, 
knows no abatement. Day and night she is 
before the throne in his behalf ; and are not her 
petitions heard ? If not, whose will be ? We 
must not deceive ourselves. She has a divinely- 
appointed place in the work of redemption, and 
one of tremendous significance — a helper in 
soul-saving. Her reward is sure. As she stands 
by her husband's side on coronation morning, 
she, too, will hear heaven's "well done" for the 
loyal, royal part she has taken, and the service 
she has rendered in the "ministry of reconcilia- 
tion." 

In the earlier days of the conference, district 
work was exceedingly laborious, because of the 
vast mountainous territory to be traversed. If 
some of the circuits embraced from ten to 
twenty appointments, extending over portions 
of three or four counties, it is evident that 
the presiding elder had his hands full in super- 
intending twelve or fifteen of these fields. The 
journeys on jnorse-back were long and fatiguing; 
it was no uncommon thing to change horses 
at the end of a twenty-five mile ride through 
the mud, or over the frozen roads. In the 
midst of one of these long trips, Dr. Y\ 7 arner 
once stopped a few minutes in Pennsboro, at 

97 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

the home of Mrs. Caroline Sigler, one of God's 
jewels, and after putting his tired animal away, 
mounted a fresh one and started on toward his 
appointment, eating a piece of cold corn-bread. 
As the good woman looked after him she could 
not keep the tears back. She knew something 
of the hardships which had fallen to his lot; 
yet those hardships were borne with a martyr's 
courage for the sake of the Church he loved, 
and in which he died. 

On a certain Friday morning I was to leave 
for my second quarterly on Littles Mills 
charge, a circuit with which the reader is al- 
ready familiar because of the happenings I 
have related in connection with it. The dis- 
tance was some thirty-five miles. The day 
brought with it a fearful snow-storm, which 
seemed to make it unwise for me to attempt 
the trip on horse-back; but I meant to hold 
the meeting. Wife and children said, "Don't 
go this time." Others interjected : "You are 
foolish. Nobody will expect you." But they 
were mistaken. The people did look for me. 
Taking the train in the evening I went to Park- 
ersburg, forty miles, and the next day to New 
Martinsville), fifty-seven miles, and then walked 
sixteen miles, partly Saturday evening, and the 
balance of the way the next morning, arriving 
in time for the 10 :30 services. I was glad I 



98 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

wont. The pastor needed me, and anxiously 
awaited my coming. I should never have felt 
right over the matter if I had disappointed 
him. 

tore. 



99 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



CHAP TEE VII. 

In the days of which I write, a quarterly 
meeting was a great event, and to many it was 
a rare privilege to see and hear the "elder." 
During the summer and fall, especially, the 
attendance in many instances would be im- 
mense. Not unfrequently the women and chil- 
dren present would more than fill the house, 
which made it necessary to seek a "shady 
bower," if one could be found. If convenient, 
the seats were removed from the church and 
used in the grove, but often this could not be 
done. More than once I have backed up against 
a tree, or mounted a log, and preached to a 
crowd scattered over a quarter acre of ground. 
On one of these occasions a young girl, of 
fifteen summers, perhaps, but large for her age, 
went to a house nearby and got a bucket of fresh 
water, and bringing it to me in the midst of my 
discourse, asked me if I would have a drink. 
I paused long enough to accept the courtesy, 
and, after thanking her for her thoughtfulness 
and kindness, continued my talk. Such an in- 
fraction of the rules governing divine worship 
to-day in many sections would greatly amuse 



100 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

the people, no doubt, and perhaps greatly an- 
noy the preacher; but it was seldom noticed 
by speaker or congregation a third of a cen- 
tury ago among the mountains. When there was 
no grove near, or the atmosphere was too chilly, 
or the ground too damp to hold out- door services, 
we were sometimes sorely defeated by the crowds 
that came. I here give in full an article which I 
furnished the Telescope on the peculiar provo- 
cations of the elder: 

"To be a presiding elder in the Parkersburg 
Conference means to travel over a large ter- 
ritory, and to do a vast amount of hard work 
on small pay; but all this is nothing compared 
with some other things that we have to endure. 
It is no uncommon thing in this country for 
a presiding elder to make a failure in the pulpit 
because of some circumstance, or a combination 
of circumstances over which he can have but 
little or no control. 

"Many of the houses in which we worship are 
by far too small to accommodate the congrega- 
tions that generally gather on quarterly meeting 
occasion. Indeed, many of our meetings are 
held in schoolhouses, only intended to seat fifty 
or seventy-five scholars. Now put two hundred 
persons, or more, into such a space, standing 
the most of them around the wall, and in the 
aisles, and then distribute from fifty to one hun- 
101 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

dred around the house on the outside, each striv- 
ing to get his head in at a window, and any one, 
though he be unused to such things, can see the 
difficulty of preaching under such circum- 
stances. If the people listen with interest they 
must be comfortably situated. 

"In many country districts away from the 
railroad, the time kept by the people varies so 
materially that it is next to impossible to get 
them together at the same hour. No two clocks 
agree, hence the people begin to assemble at ten 
o'clock in the morning and keep on assembling 
till noon. At the appointed hour the elder an- 
nounces the first hymn, and then leads in 
prayer. During these opening exercises, per- 
haps twenty-five persons have come upon the 
ground, and as soon as the amen is heard they 
make a rush for seats. 

"Another hymn is sung, and still they come. 
The text is finally announced, but what of it ? 
The people keep on coming. The middle of the 
sermon, by and by, is reached, and the preacher 
is still annoyed; not for three minutes at any 
time has he had an open field. Only one more 
proposition to discuss ; it is the most important 
one. His strength has been reserved mainly for 
it; but just as he begins to lay it open, having 
secured the attention of the audience, the door 



102 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

creaks and in corne a half dozen women. A gen- 
eral stir follows. The seats are all full; some- 
thing must be done, so a half dozen men get up 
and surrender their places. Still the people 
come. The preacher is on the home stretch, but 
is badly disheartened. He has preached to the 
people, to be sure, but a good pan of the time 
to the backs of their heads. Not half of those 
present when he began can tell what his text is. 
Indeed, he is so confused sometimes that he 
hardly knows himself what it is. He has just 
one more illustration to give. He hopes to make 
it tell, and is succeeding well. The audience for 
a moment is silent as death; but of a sudden 
the door opens again and a few more try to en- 
ter. In an instant every eye is turned, and the 
thread of thought is dropped, and the preacher 
sits down disgusted and dissatisfied. 

"Of course it is not always this way, but 
frequently such is the case. On such occasions 
the people go home no wiser than when they 
came. Having been to meetin is the only pleas- 
ing thought enjoyed. 

"Too many dogs go to church. I am not 
much of a friend to the canine race at home, 
much less at church. Dogs piously inclined are 
the meanest dogs in existence. If they would 
go under the house or even under the benches 
in the house, it would not matter so much, but 

103 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

they will not do that, They walk up and down 
the aisle, and dare even to enter the pulpit where 
the presiding elder is. All this attracts atten- 
tion, and detracts from the sermon. Once in 
a while a dog fight occurs during service, and 
two or three men have to interfere to adjust 
the difficulty. If the elder intimates that the 
congregation or neighborhood is a little too 
doggish to suit him, somebody gets mad and 
calls him a 'stuck up' sort of a man. 'Beware 
of dogs/ said Paul. Many a good sermon has 
been spoiled by them. In West Virginia, espe- 
cially, they are disturbing elements. I would 
favor a war of extermination. 

"But things are much better with us now 
than they were twenty-five years ago. We have 
larger and better houses of worship, and fewer 
dogs in proportion to population. We expect 
a great improvement in the next quarter of a 
century." 

It was not an uncommon thing to see a 
glorious revival start at the quarterly meeting. 
The love-feast, which almost invariably oc- 
curred on Sunday morning before the sermon, 
was usually an occasion of deep interest. How 
the old veterans would talk! How eloquent 
some of them were in their simplicity ! How 
they relished such spiritual feasts! for such 
they were; and no wonder they were enjoyed 

104 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

by some, for they had traveled, maybe on foot, 
twenty miles or more to get there. To such the 
day was a veritable Pentecost. Sometimes in 
the midst of the sermon or sacramental service, 
"hallelujahs" would be heard. Yes, once in a 
while the people shouted, and nobody objected 
to the noise or excitement. I am no prophet, 
but will risk the statement that when the church 
gets so far along that no more hosannah's are 
heard, it will be about time to reconstruct 
things and start anew. 

A red-hot testimony-meeting in many of our 
city churches, on the quarterly communion 
occasion, would make the recurrence of the day 
and the coming of the elder an event of greater 
significance than it seems to be at present. 
Such a service would doubtless lubricate the 
machinery of the church, and make the work go 
better. The present plan of enlarging districts 
has its commendatory features, to be sure, and in 
some respects it works well, yet the old regime, 
which made it possible for the elder to be pres- 
ent at all the quarterlies, had its advantages. 

A word here respecting the genuine hospital- 
ity of the people might not be out of place; 
this, however, is characteristic of Southerners. 
The presiding elder was not compelled to put 
up with the pastor all the time because nobody 
else wanted or invited him; far from it. A 
105 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

half dozen or more at a time would claim him 
as their guest Instead of wondering where he 
would or could go, he was puzzled to know 
which of the many invitations to accept. How 
it embarrasses a man to be in a neighborhood 
where no one seems to want him. Or, if enter- 
tainment is proffered he may be further embar- 
rassed by a question mark at the end of the 
invitation, "Well, are you going with me ?" or, 
"If you've no place else to go, come with us." 
I have been chilled many, many times since 
leaving the mountain State by just such half- 
hearted treatment. 

]STor were the presiding elders official duties 
performed without an occasional break caused 
by a wag or ignoramus. Rev. G. W. Weekley 
was traveling a circuit in Gilmer County with 
Rev. E. Harper as his elder. At a certain meet- 
ing the latter was presiding with his usual grace 
and dignity while the pastor, being a stickler 
for law, was making the Discipline the rule of 
his business conduct. A young man was before 
them for license to preach. He seemed to be 
all right, and had made a favorable impression 
upon his pastor. "You will please state before 
the chair and conference," said the pastor to 
the applicant, "ivhat your reasons are for desir- 
ing permission to preach the gospel." In an 
instant the young brother was on his feet. The 

106 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

question was easy, lie thought, and so his answer 
was clear-cut, "Well," he said, "I always had 
a desire to see the country, and I thought that 
being a preacher would give me a chance to do 
so." 

Then it was that the elder wilted and the 
preacher collapsed, and the quarterly confer- 
ence looked blank, while the dear young brother 
felt himself the hero of the occasion. 

We met at the Bethel church in Mason 
County, in September of 1887, to make reports 
and to review the work of another year. Bishop 
Kephart was with us for the first, and Dr. 
Warner for the last time. To show our appre- 
ciation of Dr. Warner, the conference gave him 
a purse containing $25.00 in silver. My dis- 
trict paid, in salary and presents, $526.20, out 
of which $153 was expended for rent and car 
fare: 3,720 miles had been traveled by rail, 
941 on horse-back, and 415 on foot. The 
average salary in the conference was a fraction 
over $200. Including "presents," which were 
considerable in some cases, only one charge, 
Parkersburg Station, went above $500. One 
other, Pennsboro, reached $400 ; eight got above 
$300, while seventeen paid less than $200 each. 
The financial report generally was much better 
than that of the previous year. The aggregate 
increase in ministerial support on Parkersburg 

107 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

District was $600. Slowly but surely we were 
pushing ahead and making progress, but at a 
cost known only to those who were on the field. 

The third year on the district was similar 
to the preceding one, fraught with toil and 
responsibilities, but not without its spicery, 
which often did much to enliven the routine 
work required. One of the first things I did 
was to secure a horse and buggy. By using the 
carriage when the roads would admit of it I 
relieved myself of a good deal of horse-back 
riding. During the winter and early spring 
no sort of vehicle could be used because of the 
bad, and sometimes dangerous condition of the 
public thoroughfares. ~Not is the situation in 
this respect very much different at present from 
what it was forty years ago. Great changes 
have been wrought in other regards, but the 
roads, for the most part, remain the same, and 
will so continue through the centuries to come. 

I had a somewhat provoking experience, once 
upon a time, as I journeyed with my uncle from 
Troy to West Union, a distance of twenty-five 
miles. As the roads were exceedingly muddy 
I was concerned more than usual about a new 
suit I was wearing, having pinned the skirts 
of my clerical coat around my waist in order 
to keep them clean. We finally struck a place 
where the thin mud was half knee-deep to the 

108 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

horses. Midway in this mud-hole was a good- 
sized rock, but not being visible, my steed 
stumbled over it onto his knees, running his 
nose into the mud up to the eyes. When he 
went down I went over his head, and into the 
puddle face foremost. Fearing that the animal 
would get on me, I suddenly rolled over and 
then bounded to my feet. What a picture I 
presented ! I am sure I was no subject for 
artist or poet. My sleeves were full of mud and 
water to the elbows, my hat and umbrella both 
were submerged, and, to add to my chagrin, 
when I looked up at my uncle, from whom I had 
a right to expect at least a little sympathy, he 
was lying over on his horse's neck laughing his 
best. Going to a stream nearby, I took off my 
coat and plunged it into the water many times 
over, much like washing and wringing a bed 
quilt, until the worst of the mud was off. But 
such an experience was a mere incident with a 
mountaineer. When my clothes got dry and 
the mud was brushed off they seemed to be all 
right, and I went on with my work just as 
though the awful mix-up had not occurred. 

During the year a great sorrow came to the 
conference. On the 24th of January the news 
was flashed over the wires that Doctor Warner 
was dead. In the next week's Telescope "Delta" 
referred to the sad event as follows : 



109 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



"The announcement of Dr. Warner's death 
has cast a deep sadness over the conference. No 
other conference can feel his loss as we feel it. 
In a peculiar sense he was ours. No man ever 
had the hold upon our preachers that he had. 
We can scarcely realize that he has gone from 
us to return no more. He may have made mis- 
takes in some things, like other men, hut he was 
a good man. That his soul during his last 
earthly hours should be 'wonderfully filled 
with the peace of God/ is just what we might 
have expected. For thirty years he endured the 
hardships of a West Virginia itinerant, some- 
times traveling day and night, and making the 
greatest sacrifices to build up the church he 
loved. Naught but devotion to God's cause 
ever led him to do so much for it. But his work 
now is done. Perhaps we should not grieve over 
his departure, but we cannot help doing so. 
The entire conference weeps. Said a brother, 
Why didn't the Lord take me, and spare 
Brother Warner V This expression serves to 
show how keenly his loss is felt" 

Bishop N. Castle held the next conference at 
New Haven. During the session I received a 
telegram that I had been nominated by the pro- 
hibitionists of the fourth district for Congress, 
a compliment which I appreciated all the more 
because the honor came unsought. Yes, I was 

110 



Itinerating in West Virginia 



a prohibitionist, and am yet, and expect to 
remain one until something better claims my 
support. The four hundred votes cast for the 
ticket in the district represented a thoughtful, 
moral, courageous element of which I have al- 
ways been proud. Only such people, as a rule, 
vote the prohibition ticket. As I entered upon 
the fourth year of district work I determined 
it should be my last, at least for a while. I 
had been kept away from my books already too 
long, and consciously realized that, while I 
might be gaining a little some ways, I was los- 
ing in others. The church cannot find its high- 
est ideals in men who live wholly outside their 
libraries. It is study — familiarity with the 
thoughts and methods of others — that broadens 
a preacher. The map studied by many of us 
is too small, and needs to be enlarged so as to 
extend the vision. If we would see and know 
things, we must look and search after them. 
The man is exceedingly unfortunate who, hav- 
ing eyes, refuses to see, and having intelligence, 
neglects the acquisition of knowledge. My 
advice to the young man at the threshold of the 
ministry is, "Buy good books and read them; 
study your discourses thoroughly and with an 
eye to somebody's salvation, and then give the 
people the very best that God has put in you." 
This was a good year for the district. As it 

111 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



was to be the last, I determined to make the 
best record possible for my successor to dupli- 
cate or excel. To succeed meant to go all the 
time. Distance, bad weather, dangerons roads, 
swollen streams, or any other circumstances 
were seldom allowed to get in the way. When 
Lincoln was asked if he thought the war would 
close during his administration, he replied, "I 
don't know, sir, I don't know." "What, then, 
is your purpose ?" was further asked, to which 
the characteristic answer was given, "Peg 
away, sir, peg away." It is this everlasting 
"pegging away" — forcing one's way through 
difficulties, and surmounting obstacles — that 
wins, not only in West Virginia, but every- 
where else. 

Buxton wrote : "The longer I live the more 
deeply I am convinced that that which makes 
the difference between one man and another — 
between the weak and powerful, the great and 
insignificant — is energy, invincible determina- 
tion, a purpose once formed, and then victory 
or death." I quote Buxton's words because 
they are gold, and have in them the ring of 
triumph. 

The year brought its usual harvest of inci- 
dents — some serious, others laughable and 
amusing. It is well to have a streak of fun 
occasionally flash across our pathway to enliven 

112 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

a journey, or some task to which we have set 
our hands. 

One bleak Monday morning in December I 
was riding along a high ridge in Wetzel County 
on my way home from a quarterly just held 
in that region. To my right a few rods I 
observed a young man husking corn. He was 
evidently working his best to keep warm, and, 
of course, not in a very good condition to be 
fooled with by a stranger; but I thought I 
must say something, and run the risk of an 
explosion. Reining up my horse and getting 
his attention, I called to him, "Go it ; that's 
the way I got my start." "Yes," he said, 
with lightning speed, "and a thunderin' start 
you got," and then made the fodder rattle so 
that if I had replied he could not have heard 
me. To be honest, I had not the disposition to 
talk back, for nothing suggested itself at the 
moment as an appropriate response; but for 
the next mile I laughed over the episode and 
considered myself fortunate that nothing more 
serious had happened. 

I might add that not far from this place 
Rev. S. J. Graham, years before, suddenly 
found himself in a kind of menagerie one frosty 
morning. In those days laymen would fre- 
quently make long trips with the preacher or 
elder ; spending several days from home. They 

113 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 



thought less about business and more about the 
church than some do at present. On the 
occasion referred to, Brother "N. Kuykendoll 
was with the elder. One night they lodged with 
a friend in his little log cabin of one room. Of 
course they were well treated and given the best 
the humble home could afford. Their host 
arose early next morning and built a fire in 
an old-fashioned fire-place, which admitted of 
a. "back log" and "fore sticks" before the 
"kindling" was put in. Soon the shanty was 
warm. The lay brother awoke first, and, glanc- 
ing about the room, said to his bed-fellow in 
a low tone: "Brother Graham, get up; the mil- 
lennium, has come." The preacher raised him- 
self on his elbow and looked, and sure enough 
there was a strange mixture of animals lying 
on the hearth before the fire — a pet lamb, a pet 
pig, a huge dog, and two or three cats. Years 
afterward I heard these brethren talk and laugh 
over the experience with as much zest as if it 
had occurred only the week before. 

To indicate something of the work done this 
year, and that had to be done to carry out the 
program of a presiding elder, I here insert a 
few pages of a brief diary which I kept: 

January 1, I wrote: "I now begin a new 
year. God help me. My time, strength, soul — 
all must be given to the work of the church. 

114 



Itinerating in West Virginia 



With my family I took dinner with Brother 
C. E. Brown, a precious man." 

2. — "Worked on a sermon on coveteousness. 
Got 'Sweet Sicily' and read it." 

3. — "Voted for town corporation officers. 
Wrote a number of letters. Brother Poling 
came in the evening, and spent the night with 
me." 

4. — "Worked hard on my sermon on covet- 
eousness." 

5. — "Went to Parkersburg in the forenoon, 
and held business meeting at night. All was 
pleasant. Lodged with Pastor Martin." 

6. — "Preached from 1 Cor. 13:12 in the 
morning. Good meeting. Audience melted to 
tears. Attended Sabbath school at 2 :30 p. m., 
conducted the quarterly experience meeting at 
six, and preached again at 7 :30. House full of 
people." 

7. — "Returned home on early train. With 
wife went to hear Methodist preacher at night." 

8. — "At home, studying and answering corre- 
spondence." 

10. — "Went to Parkersburg again. Dined 
with Brother J. H. Spence. Assisted in meet- 
ing at night." 

11. — "With the pastor visited eleven fam- 
ilies. Large crowd at evening service." 

115 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

12. — "Went to Eed Hill, six miles distant, 
and held quarterly at 2 :00 p. m. Preached in 
the evening." 

13. — "Preached at 10:30 a.m. from Titus 
2 :9. Good feeling. Large sacramental service. 
Shout in the camp. Pastor Devol leaped for 
joy. Preached again at night." 

14. — "Came to the city and returned home. 
All well." 

15. — "In study all day. Attended M. E. 
Church at night. An interesting revival in 
progress." 

16. — "At home preparing for dedication." 

18. — "Left home on early train, and reached 
Buckhannon at 4 :00 p. m. Went to Mt. Wash- 
ington, eight miles in the country, and preached 
at night on the 'Prodigal Son.' Thirteen 
seekers at the altar and four more asked prayers. 
Lodged with Brother Reese." 

19. — "Rode fourteen miles to 'Uncle Ji mm y* 
Hull's for dinner, and then went to Union Hill 
where I preached at night. Met Elder Graham." 

20. — "Rained hard. Congregation small. 
Raised $85. At night tried it again. Good 
feeling. Secured $68.50 more and dedicated 
church. Opposition from another church." ' 

21. — "Rode sixteen miles to Buckhannon 
through a fearful snow-storm. Went to Weston 
on train and rode seven miles in the country." 

116 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

23. — "Returned home. Found all well." 

I now turn to the March record because it 
has to do with one of the sad things which not 
^infrequently comes to the itinerant. 

15. — "I started at noon for Troy Circuit 
reached Auburn late in the evening. 

16. — "Visited Father Williams and wife. 
The latter has been in bed three years. Read 
the Word and prayed with them. Both got 
happy. Sung a hymn or two for them. Held 
quarterly at 2 p. m., and preached on 'Stephen, 
the First Martyr.' A good timet" 

17. — "Sunday. Held prayer-meeting at 10 
a, m., and preached at 11. Large communion. 
Big shout in the camp. Collection $20. Talked 
again at night. One of the best quarterlies I 
ever held." 

I pause here. On Monday evening Father 
Perry came, and preached for us. After return- 
ing from church he turned to me and tenderly 
said, "Now, Brother Weekley, I have a little 
news for you. As I came through your town 
this noon I was told that your youngest child 
was critically ill. The doctor regards her case 
as dangerous. I would have told you sooner, 
but I knew it would so trouble you that you 
could not enjoy the service. I knew also that 
117 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

you would not dare start home in the night, 
and thus endanger your life. So I waited. Now 
leave her with God ; get what rest you can, and 
then be off by daylight in the morning." But I 
got no rest. It was a long, long night of tossing 
and anxious waiting. At day dawn I started. 
The muddy roads were frozen over, but not 
sufficiently to bear up my horse. A part of 
the time I walked. It seemed I could make no 
headway at all, and didn't make much in some 
places. When within two miles of home, I 
called at a farm-house and inquired if they 
had heard from my family, and they told me 
they had not. This brought me relief, for I 
was sure they would have heard the news if the 
child were dead. At 1 p.m. I landed safely and 
found, sure enough, that a blessed Providence 
had kept the black-winged angel from our home. 

How such harrowing experiences try the very 
soul of the over-worked, half-paid, care-worn 
man of God, who must spend all his time and 
strength away from home in some obscure field ! 
They test the material that enters into his com- 
position. To put the Cross and sinful souls 
before one's own family requires great faith — 
faith in the Redeemer, faith in his church, and 
faith in the winning, victorious power of the 
gospel; and this is what every itinerant in 
West Virginia had to have. 



118 



Itinerating in West Virginia 



To indicate the nature and work of our 
preachers 7 institute. I return to my diary and 
give the items of a few days. 

July 9. — "At home preparing for institute 
which meets to-morrow." 

10. — a Went to Smithton, and took charge of 
institute. Rev. H. T. Athey assisted some. 
Lessons were in Old Testament history and 
homiletics. Revs. H. T. Athey, H. R. Hess, 
R. M. Hite, G. A. Davis, J. P. Piggot, and W. 
H. Albert were present." 

11. — "Met at 8 a. m. Recitations. Hess 
gave a talk on the 'Apocalypse.' Davis preached 
at 7 p.m. Good sermon." 

12. — "Recitations as usual. Davis made an 
address on 'Prayer.' Good. Hite read a paper 
on 'Fore-ordination.' Discussed. Piggott 
preached well at night." 

13. — "Recitations as usual. I read a paper 
on 'Divorce and Adultery.' Also presented a 
diagram of Solomon's Temple. Hess preached. 
Good meeting." 

14. — "Sunday. I preached at 11 a. m. Large 
crowd in grove. Good liberty, and good atten- 
tion. Athey preached at 3 :00 p. m., and did 
well. Returned home." 

The records of a few days immediately fol- 
lowing may also be of interest. 

119 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

24. — "Drove with my family to father's, 
fifteen miles distant." 

25. — "Started for Hessville quarterly. Drove 
thirty-seven miles to Father Mason's." 

26. — "Drove to Bee Gum Station fifteen miles 
further east. Good meeting in afternoon. 
Preached at night." 

27. — "Sunday. Discoursed at 10 :30 a. m. 
on 'The New Testament; Church.' Preached 
again at three o'clock on 'Benevolence and Hon- 
esty.' Led song service. Drove fifteen miles 
back to Brother Mason's." 

28. — "Left at 6 a. m. and drove thirty-seven 
miles to father's." 

But it is needless to further reproduce here 
the jottings made long years ago. The brief 
memorandum given is but a fair index to the 
activities of the entire twelve months, or, I 
might say, to the forty-eight months spent on 
the district 



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Itinerating in West Virginia 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Buckhann'on was again the seat of confer- 
ence, and was in charge of Bishop Weaver. 
This was his last visit to West Virginia. My 
district reported about 600 conversions and 
accessions to the chnrch. The average salary 
for the pastors of the conference was $230. 
After paying house rent and car fare, I had 
$365.79 left for the support of a family of five, 
and with which to purchase books, papers, and 
stationery; but I did not complain; it was 
more than the average circuit-rider was getting. 
On this little sum we seemed to live fairly well, 
and imagined ourselves as respectable as any- 
body in the town. 

In looking over my report, I see at its close 
the following significant statement: "Now, 
brethren, suffer a word more. I kindly and 
earnestly request that you relieve me from dis- 
trict work. Eight years out of the past eleven 
have been given to this kind of service. While 
I certainly appreciate what you have done for 
me, I must say that I am tired of the place, and 
am anxious that some one else take it. All there 



121 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

is in it, whether money, distinction, responsi- 
bility, or hard work, I cheerfully surrender to 
some one else, with the earnest wish that he may 
prove more efficient than I have been, and that 
under his labors enlarged blessings may come 
to the district." 

This was my last year as a presiding elder 
in the dear old conference. 

It is now many years since I was transferred 
to another field, but almost daily my thoughts 
go back to my native home, and to the twenty 
years of unceasing toil given to the building up 
of the church in that mountainous region. In- 
deed, I could scarcely get away. It was no easy 
matter to sever the relations of a life-time. In 
looking over my brief record of daily happen- 
ings I find that July 16, 1880, while pastor at 
Buckhannon I wrote: 

"Received a letter to-day from Rev. C. 
Wendle, urging me to come to Rock River Con- 
ference. Bishop Kephart also writes in like 
manner. Do not know what to do, but must do 
right. Lord help me." October 3, I expressed 
my thoughts and feelings as follows: 

"At home trying to pack our goods. What 
a task it is ! Is God in this ? I do hope so. It 
is so hard to leave West Virginia. These hills 
and valleys all seem sacred to me." 

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Itinerating in West Virginia 

The last time I visited my parents before 
removing West, I was deeply affected to see 
how frail they seemed, and thus referred to it: 
"Parents are getting old. How they are bend- 
ing beneath the weight of years ! Alas, how 
short life is! Twenty years ago when I left 
home father had no gray hairs. ~Now his head 
is white as wool. Mother! what a faithful 
sonl! How self-sacrificing! Anything to help 
her children and make herself a blessing to 
others. Heaven is anxious to get such an angel. 
May earth keep her yet a long while." 

These excerpts from my diary indicate that 
it cost me something — a heart-struggle, at least, 
to turn my back upon scenes and associations 
which were as sacred as life itself. But in mak- 
ing the change I felt I was following the lead- 
ings of Providence, and that all would be well 
in the end. 

The fellowship of the brethren I left behind 
was sweet. Those who looked on were com- 
pelled to say, "Behold, how good and how pleas- 
ant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
unity." There was as little jealousy and self- 
seeking and rivalry in the conference as I ever 
found anywhere. We all were poor, and could 
sing like the old Methodist pioneer on his four 
weeks' circuit: 



123 



Twenty Years on Horseback , or 

"No foot of land do I possess, 
No cottage in the wilderness; 

A poor wayfaring man, 
I lodge awhile in tents below; 
Or gladly wander to and fro, 
Till I my Canaan gain. 

"Nothing on earth I call my own; 
A stranger to the world unknown, 

I all their goods despise; 
I trample on their whole delight, 
And seek a country out of sight, 
A country in the skies. 

"There is my house and portion fair; 
My treasure and my heart are there, 

And my abiding home; 
For me my elder brethren stay, 
And angels beckon me away, 
And Jesus bids me come." 

There was another verse we all cherished, 
and often sung it, as it seemed so appropriate : 

"A tent or a cottage, why should I care? 
They're building a palace for me over there; 
Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing, 
'All glory to God, I'm the child of a King.' " 

In all my travels throughout the Church I 
have never found any conference that could 
sing as the West Virginians did. Diddle, Har- 
per, Graham, Orr, Hitt, Holden, and Wood 
were among the earlier men. Later their places 
were taken by Cunningham, Piggott, Sallaz, 
Slaughter, Carder, and Bobinson. But it is 



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Itinerating in West Virginia 

hardly fair to name a few. All could sing ; and 
so they can to-day. 

Singing was an inspiring feature of every 
conference gathering. It made the air electric, 
and caused high voltage pressure. We would 
sing on the train, on the boat, at the hotel — 
everywhere. On our way from conference, in 
1879, we all stopped at a hotel in Weston for 
dinner. As usual, the singers were lined up in 
a little while, and fairly shook the old inn with 
some of their latest and freshest selections. Be- 
fore we quit, the town was thoroughly stirred 
up. People left their business places and came 
to listen. Women and children stood in the 
doors of their homes, or looked out at the win- 
dows, and wondered what it all meant. Two 
young men, some blocks away, heard the sing- 
ing and started on a rim for the hotel. As they 
passed some parties one of them was heard to 
say, "I'll bet five hundred dollars they are 
Brethren preachers." 

Professor Diddle, assisted by others, published 
the West Virginia Lute in 1868, which had a 
tremendous sale, both among our people and 
those of other churches. Then Baltzell's music, 
probably Golden Songs, came next among our 
own publications. This was also a popular 
book, and one of great merit. While it con- 
tained many imperfections, it was nevertheless 



125 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

thoroughly "orthodox" from our view-point. 
The author was not a scientific music writer. 
He did not grind his songs out at the organ in 
a mechanical way, hut manufactured them in 
his heart. Such music always takes. There is 
something about it that gets hold of the soul 
and stirs its deepest emotions. I do not under- 
stand what that something is, hut it is there, 
all the same. 

It was a very common remark among the peo- 
ple of other churches: "If you want to hear 
singing, get a lot of Brethren preachers 
together." We had no organs or pianos in any 
of the churches, with skilled performers to lead 
the audience. To aid in getting the "pitch," 
a "tunningfork," or horn was used — a clever 
little device which every leader carried. But 
few of the brethren, however, understood the 
grammar of music. They had had no special 
training — hut no difference ; they could sing 
anyhow. They were not poets, hut had the 
poetic touch. I have heard these men of God 
again and again sing until the audience was 
fairly entranced, and until the fire of joy was 
kindled to a flame in their own hearts. They 
were rivals of Israel's shepherd king, and 
wrought things more marvelous than he, 
through the melodies they sang. 

126 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

While their music was not classical, it seldom 
failed to strike fire. The people liked it, and 
were charmed, encouraged, and, in a thousand 
instances, saved by it. Mr. Alexander, the 
great revival singer, has the right view of 
things. He writes : "Musicians often say to me, 
'Why do you not use classical music, above the 
style of gospel songs V I reply, 'When you can 
show me similar effects following such high- 
class music in moving the hearts of men and 
women, I will use it fast enough. Until then 
I shall keep to gospel songs, which have a won- 
derful way of reaching everybody, because they 
touch the soul." 

Volume, fervor, soul, enthusiasm, is what we 
want in all our church music. Away, forever, 
with that operatic nonsense which the artistic 
would introduce into our present-day religious 
services. 

What glorious revivals were promoted. Like 
cyclones they seemed, at times, to lay every- 
thing low in their course. How sinners wept 
and repented! How saints shouted aloud for 
joy! "Wild fire!" does some one suggest? 
May be it was; but it achieved wonderful 
results. The present ministry of the confer- 
ence, with a great majority of the true and tried 
laymen who constitute the very backbone of the 
church, were converted in just such meetings; 

127 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

and it is quite likely that the leading ministers 
and laymen of every other conference in our 
Zion were converted under like circumstances. 
Call it "wild fire" if you will, but I would like 
to see a good deal more of it. 

A revival that arouses a whole community 
and brings fifty or a hundred, or perhaps two 
hundred into the kingdom, some of whom 
become prominent preachers of the word, while 
others become very pillars in the church, is not 
to be ignored or decried by those who are too 
slow and formal and dull to create a stir. Better 
have a little "wild fire" than no fire at all. 

Personally, I believe in excitement. ^sTothing 
worth thinking about is ever accomplished in 
its absence. We cannot relish food, or enjoy 
sleep, until first excited by hunger or fatigue. 
Why should not the church manifest as much 
zeal and enthusiasm in her work as political 
parties or commercial clubs do in theirs ? I am 
tired of that contemptible sentiment which 
stands ready, everywhere, and all the time, to 
denounce everything that has to do with the 
emotions. Religion, I readily grant, does not 
consist of noise and bluster. It means vastly 
more than that. 2Tor does it consist in sitting 
around like so many lifeless knots on a log. 

We are told that it is the lightning and not 
thunder that kills. True enough, but lightning 

128 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

in the absence of thunder is harmless. Light- 
ning makes the thunder. 

In our work but little was said about the new 
theology, or higher criticism. Watson and Ral- 
ston in their theologies, and Smith and Clark 
and Lange and Barnes in their expositions, sel- 
dom referred to the new-fangled theories which 
confuse and chill and curse some of the churches 
to-day. We all believed that Moses wrote the 
Penateuch, and Paul theEpistle to the Hebrews ; 
and personally I have never had any reason 
for changing my views. It had never occurred 
to us to put J ob and Jonah on the fictitious list. 
We actually believed and preached that they 
lived and wrought, one in the land of Uz, and 
the other in Nineveh, after escaping from the 
whale's belly. We tried to tell of the awfulness 
of sin, as well as the joys of religion. We 
believed in a heaven, and would often talk and 
sing and preach about it until we felt ourselves 
within its very suburbs. When Jesus said, 
"And these shall go away into everlasting pun- 
ishment," we supposed he meant it, and no one 
attempted to put an artificial bottom in the 
"bottomless pit." We divided our time pretty 
well between Sinai and Zion. The decalogue 
and beatitudes were included, ofttimes, in 
the framework of the same sermon. We knew 
there were some inaccuracies in the authorized 



129 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

version, but nothing sufficiently serious to affect 
the fundamentals of Christianity. We were 
justified, as we thought, in preaching the whole 
Bible, as it was commonly understood and in- 
terpreted, because in doing so we were blessed 
and sinners were saved. 

The "mourners' bench" was always a part of 
the program in our revival work. Y/hile no one 
insisted that a man must be saved at the bench, 
if saved at all, we believed, nevertheless, that 
coming forward and bowing at the altar was a 
good way of confessing sin, and of plighting 
fidelity to Jesus Christ. I would not serve as 
pastor of a people who objected to the use of an 
altar. If some of the unsaved wanted to seek 
their Lord elsewhere, and in some other way, 
I should not object; but I should insist upon 
it that those who wanted to come forward for 
prayers should have the privilege of doing so. 
It is refreshing to see how simple and direct 
Dr. Torry, "Billy" Sunday, and "Gipsey" 
Smith are in their methods, and the wonderful 
results that follow. They do not mince matters. 
They go to the people with a burning message 
from the Throne, and deliver it, no matter what 
anybody may think or say about it. With 
sledge-hammer blows they drive it home to the 
hearts of their hearers, that no man can be 
saved until he confesses his sins and his Savior. 



130 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

They follow, largely, the old line of revival 
work — and succeed. 

The preacher who cannot build a fire in his 
church is a failure. In no other way can he 
attract attention. The church of God has been 
used to fire from the beginning. Moses got a 
good warming-up before the burning bush on 
Horeb; so did Elijah, and others, on Carmel. 
The disciples were not ready to preach or the 
church to work until a burning Pentecost came, 
and fire-flakes fell from heaven upon them. We 
need great revivals, and can have them, if we 
are willing to pay the price. 

One serious hindrance to the work is the fact 
that too many profess to have found a "new 
way." They council moderation, and would have 
us go about the business with that cold, mathe- 
matical precision which the astronomer em- 
ploys in measuring the heavens. As the result, 
many of our revival efforts turn out to be very 
moderate affairs. They are self-constituted 
appointees to shut off steam and put down the 
breaks, and they succeed. What we need is 
more steam ; that is, purpose, push, and power. 
And I rejoice in the thought that the thing for 
which we have waited and prayed is at hand. 
The semi-skepticism and indifference which 
have so handicapped the work of evangelism in 
the last twenty-five years, are giving place to 

131 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

larger activities and simpler methods. We are 
facing the morning light. The reaction and re- 
adjustment will bring in a new era of moral and 
spiritual triumphs in soul-winning. 

The church at large knows but little about the 
excessive labors and sacrifices of the earlier 
ministry in West Virginia. My heart still 
weeps as I think of what some of the brethren 
endured. But, brave souls they were, they did 
it because they loved the church and her Christ. 

Only three or four remain who were in the 
conference when I joined thirty-seven years 
ago. Four others — Eevs. E. Harper, I. M. 
Underwood, A. Orr, and Dr.. J. L. Hensley — 
have located in other conferences, but the great 
majority have gone to heaven. From hillside 
and mountain-top they ascended to a place of 
honor by their Lord, to live in the white light 
of the throne forever. 

"Oh, how sweet it will be in that beautiful land, 

So free from all sorrow and pain; 
With songs on our lips and with harps in our hands, 

To meet one another again." 

Does any one inquire to know the real secret 
of their power? It is not easily explained. 
They had intellectual girth, but this was only 
incidental to their success. Their surroundings 
were inspiring, their spirits exuberant, their 
physical endurance tremendous, their zeal un- 

132 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

flagging, but the secret lay deeper; these were 
only tributary. It seems to me that the one 
quality which exalted them, and gave them the 
mastery over men was reality. They were 
genuine. God counted them among his cap- 
tains, and they were loyal to the last. Duty 
and destiny were to them overwhelming sug- 
gestions. In them were wrapped up the present 
and the eternal hereafter. 

I can still hear Brother Graham singing as he 
rode through storm and heat, carrying aloft 
the banners of the church: 

"Above the waves of earthly strife; 
Above the ills and cares of life; 
Where all is peaceful, bright and fair, 
My home is there, my home is there." 

Chevaliers, divine! 

"Their burning zeal no langour knew 
For Christ, his cause, his tempted few; 
At home, abroad, where 'er their lot, 
Their much-loved theme they ne 'er forgot." 

"One soweth and another reapeth," is the 
divine law. The foundations of the church 
among the Virginia hills and mountains were 
laid amid self-givings, known only to Him who 
gave to his servants their marching orders, and 
who accompanied them every foot of the way. 
A better day has come to the conference. The 
fields of labor have been greatly reduced in size, 
pastoral support has been improved, educational 
133 



Twenty Years on Horseback, or 

advantages have been increased, which means 
so much to the itinerant's family, and in other 
respects conditions made many-fold better. 

The present membership is 15,000 divided 
among sixty circuits and stations. Two hun- 
dred and six chnrch edifices, worth $243,869, 
are reported, and thirty-eight parsonages valned 
at $31,939. 

The territory embraces four districts. While 
the number of presiding elders might be dimin- 
ished, it would not be wise to try the experi- 
ment of giving one superintendent charge of the 
whole conference. The country is too rough, 
the distances too great, and the public facilities 
for travel too meager for one man to do it all. 

The average salary paid the pastors in 1906 
was $379.45, including house rent and special 
gifts. Three of the charges went to between 
$800 and $900 ; one paid from $600 to $650, 
and eight others over $500 each. The presid- 
ing elders averaged $563.97. For all purposes 
$50,589.49 was collected. These figures show 
that in spite of the adverse circumstances with 
which we have had to battle for the last half 
century, real progress has been made. But more 
ought to be done in the next fifteen years than 
has been accomplished in the last fifty. 

Some portions of the State are becoming 
immensely wealthy through the oil and mining 

134 



Itinerating in West Virginia 

industries. Our people are sharing in the gen- 
eral prosperity, and many of them are growing 
rich. The commercial possibilities of the State 
are great and promising as its hidden treasures 
are brought to the surface, and put on the 
world's market. The work of the present min- 
istry is to broaden the benefactions of our mem- 
bership by teaching them the true meaning of 
Christian stewardship and the obligations 
which it imposes. In proportion as this is done, 
salaries will be increased more and more, the 
offerings to the various benevolent societies mul- 
tiplied, and larger sums provided for Otterbein 
University and Union Biblical Seminary. 

There is quite a stretch of time between the 
penning of these lines and the day I started for 
my first circuit. Thirty-seven years is a good 
while. My experiences have been numerous and 
varied. The way at times has been rough, the 
tasks difficult, and the responsibilities great, but, 
after all, if I had my life to live over I should 
spend it in the gospel ministry, and start again 
in West Virginia. 



135 



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